NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — A Wednesday house fire in North Olmsted left a young family stranded and in need of community support.
“There’s not much left salvageable, to be honest,” Moira Schuster said.
Schuster woke up Thursday to learn that a close friend lost everything in the fire overnight.
“My mom actually texted me this morning and she’s the one who said, ‘That’s Melissa and Kevin’s house,’” Schuster said.
The couple is parents to a two-year-old daughter and foster parents to two babies. One of the babies is just a week old, according to the American Red Cross.
“With three little kids, two new ones, I’m sure they already had Christmas presents,” Schuster said. “To have everything lost and to feel so hopeless.”
Schuster took to Facebook to post a list of the essentials.
“Other people started posting right away asking what they could do,” Laura Simna said.
Because of her quick action and compassion, donations of children’s clothing, high chairs, baby food, and formula have been pouring in from neighbors like Simna all day Thursday.
“I have a couple kids about the same age as this family,” Simna said. “And we were fortunate to have extra things that we never ended up using.”
Schuster did not anticipate the amount of outreach she’s received.
“I honestly didn’t think it would blow up as much as it did,” Schuster said. “I was actually at work trying to manage the notifications.”
The Red Cross is assisting the family whose home was classified as destroyed.
Meantime, neighbors said in a year already riddled with emotional and financial stress, there’s no better time to give.
“Middle of winter, Christmas season,” Simna said. “It’s a lot to deal with.”
