2 benefits planned to help Lockhart fire victims
Published 11:59 pm Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Last Thursday, Donnie and Gwen Kimbro lost everything they owned in a house fire.
This Saturday, the Lockhart and Florala communities will ask for everyone’s help in helping the couple recoup, as residents will sponsor not one, but two fund-raisers.
The fire occurred Thursday and completely destroyed the couple’s Racetrack Road home in Lockhart, as well as the entirety of the home’s contents.
“We’re doing the best we can considering,” Donnie Kimbro said Tuesday as he watched electricians put the finishing touches on the power pole next to what-used-to-be his home. “It was an entire loss. We had insurance but there are just some things that are priceless and we’ll never get back … but there’s nothing left. Nothing at all.”
Family members and other community residents have stepped in to help the couple arrange temporary housing, but others felt like there was more they could do.
The first fund-raiser is set for Saturday morning and is sponsored by Kimbro’s employer and fellow employees at the Florala Farmer’s Co-Op, where Kimbro has worked for the last two decades.
Todd Caraway, the store’s assistant manager, said dinner plates with a choice of hamburger, hotdog or BBQ sandwich will be sold.
“We’re asking for a minimum of a $3 donation for each plate,” he said. “It’s the least we could do to help.”
Plates will be available from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the store on Lockhart Boulevard in Florala.
The second fund-raiser, which begins at 4 p.m., will be a benefit street dance at the Lockhart Volunteer Fire Department. BBQ dinner plates will also be sold for $5 and include coleslaw, baked beans, bread, desert and a drink.
“Lockhart is such a tightly knit community,” said Lockhart Police chief John Davis. “This idea just kind of sprang up and became a community project. The Kimbros lost everything in that fire. It’s the least we can do to help them get the things they need to try and rebuild their life.”