Help A&A Jumping Castles BounceBack
For as long as I can remember both of my parents, Michael and Aline Andrew, have dedicated their entire heart and soul into building and maintaining not just a business (A&A Jumping Castles), but a lifestyle that has allowed them to spread as much happiness and enjoyment into the lives of as many people as they could possibly reach.
I was awoken at 5:00am this morning with a heart wrenching phone call from my mum.
The business that they have spent the last 18 years building and growing from scratch - the business that has supported both mine and my sister's entire upbringing - was going down in flames: literally.
My mum received a phone call after midnight that the security alarms had been activated at the factory.
Mum thought nothing of it until she received a phone call from my dad after he went down to check everything was okay.
In my 25 years of living, I have never even seen my dad shed a tear. However on this phone call, after getting out the 3 words, "everything is gone...” he broke down; watching everything they have worked for burning down in front of him.
Inside the factory they stored all of their Jumping Castles (approx. 100), Equipment, Materials, Amusement Rides (Mechanical Bulls, Hire-Limo's, Chair-o-Plane, Generators, Dodge'em Karts, Go-Karts etc). It was also used as a repair shop for kindergarten and playgroup equipment and other jumping castles (several of which were on site) and as secondary storage for things that didn’t fit at home. Everything was engulfed in flames and reduced to ashes.
If this wasn't horrible enough already, after mum calming herself enough to be able to speak to me, she informed me that the insurance policy they had chosen didn’t cover for fire for the factory and its contents. My parents now need to reimburse the clients that had their equipment on site to be repaired as well as replace the equipment (forklift etc) they had hired for the business. This is a huge issue as their livelihood has literally burned to the ground – leaving them with no source of income.
We then found out from the Forensic Investigators that this was an act of arson, which was confirmed by CCTV footage of surrounding factories. A car approached the premises, attempted to force an entry and when this failed, broke a window and threw in a bomb type item, which exploded inside, consuming everything and continued to burn at intense speed. It took 22 emergency services including 2 helicopters, 5 fire trucks, 60 fire-fighters, multiple police and ambulance members 2 hours to get the blaze under control.
I’m sorry to write a small essay about this. I could write for hours about how this has shaken my parents, our family and loved ones, however, if I’m going to ask for the generosity and support of the public, they deserve to know a brief insight into the events of last night/this morning and how this has affected us.
I am doing this not only for my parents to rebuild their business which they have put together for years, but because my parents are amazing people. Unfortunately, I have just started my own business myself about 3 months ago, as well as moved out of home in February 2016 and my sister is in the middle of studying her Master’s degree to pursue a full-time career, so we are very tight on money and can’t help them anywhere near as much as we would want to.
For as long as I can remember, my parents have done everything they possibly could to give me everything they never had. They are always the first to help out others and lend a hand to those in need, whether it’s giving people a roof over their heads in tough times or completely going out of their way to help out however they can. They have made me and my sister into who we are today and we wouldn’t be where we are today without their ongoing support. What I want to do is give it back.
Kind donations from anyone who has money to spare (even if it’s as much as 5c) are greatly appreciated. All monies donated will go towards not only helping them rebuild and replace what was in their factory, but to instil confidence in my parents that things will work out, because people do care. People everywhere love you and they appreciate the joy that your company has provided over the last 18 years.
I cannot express enough how grateful I am to everyone who even takes the time to read this, let alone donate something, as it really does mean so much to us all.
Thank you again in advance for everybody and their generosity, to help A&A Jumping Castles to bounce back!
Below is a link if the article that the age has made on the incident.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/owner-deflated-after-fire-rips-through-hoppers-crossing-jumping-castle-business-20170111-gtpu5f.html
