This time of year routinely can be slow for Eric Marx and his lawn and landscaping company.
Then he saw last weekend that Douglas County United Way and AmeriCorps members needed help collecting donated furniture for a Douglas County family of 11 that lost their home west of Lawrence in a Dec. 30 fire.
“I always told myself I would volunteer in the wintertime,” said Marx, who owns Brayden’s Lawn and Landscape.
He used his truck and trailer and helped collect furniture, beds and dressers area residents had donated after the United Way put out a call for donations. The family of Roger and Camay Guillory, who didn’t have insurance, had all their belongings also destroyed in the fire. Community members have donated hundreds of household items over the last week for the family as they were searching for a new home.
Lori Johns, director of the United Way Roger Hill Volunteer Center, said the AmeriCorps members were thankful for the extra muscle on Wednesday as they had received calls from nearly 100 people who had furniture they could pick up. They couldn’t even get all the way through the list, but the furniture they did collect will be stored at a warehouse downtown. Anything the family doesn’t use will be given to other area organizations that can use it.
Johns said she had taken pillows and other items to Penn House and the Social Service League Thrift Store.
Once they get settled, the Guillory family will benefit from all of the housewares, linens, towels, small appliances and toys people donated.
“It just goes to show how caring people are when something happens,” Johns said. “And everybody wants to help. They should all know that it’s all going to go to somebody who needs it.”
Craig Foos, an owner of Starving Artists Moving, said a crew spent its day collection donations across town.
“Our entire crew is willing to help out no matter what the scenario is,” he said. “It means more to us to get in to help people locally.”
Guillory’s employer, ICL Performance Products, has also been storing items for the family, organizers have said.
Comments
sierraclub 2 years, 1 month ago
Makes me wonder why I work so hard to pay my taxes and insurance.
ebyrdstarr 2 years, 1 month ago
And you know what? You can still make an awful comment like that and yet if your house burned to the ground and you lost everything you owned, people in this community would still come together and help you get back on your feet. Because all the taxes and all the insurance in the world still won't make sure you and your kids have clean underwear and socks in the immediate aftermath of a house fire. Too bad you're incapable of sharing that compassion for your fellow humans.
riverdrifter 2 years, 1 month ago
Actually, from what I read of your posts, I don't think you have a scintilla of an idea of what hard work is.
justiceseeker2011 2 years, 1 month ago
Well Sierraclub lets just hope something like this happens to you then. Should this be my wish?
justiceseeker2011 2 years, 1 month ago
Well Sierraclub lets just hope something like this happens to you then. Should this be my wish?
labmonkey 2 years, 1 month ago
Sierraclub, I guarantee that as an ICL relief operator, Roger works harder and for sure, crappier hours than you do (that is if you work).
justiceseeker2011 2 years, 1 month ago
+1
Armored_One 2 years, 1 month ago
Better to be silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Sadly, sierra never took that phrase to heart.
ebyrdstarr 2 years, 1 month ago
What on earth does your ridiculous diatribe have to do with a community coming together to help a family in need? Seriously, shut your computer down and go to bed. Maybe you won't feel quite so negative toward anyone who helps a neighbor in the morning.
Armored_One 2 years, 1 month ago
FIrst, the freedom of speech does not come with a rider stating that the listener cannot be annoyed at the words that come from your mouth, proverbially speaking.
I don't care if Tebow catches on fire or not. Sports are not the epicenter of my universe.
I don't care what faith you are, just so long as you are a decent human being.
Yes, abortion should be legal. It is gender descrimination to pass laws that affect only one gender.
Boot the illegals out.
I could care less whether you work or not, pay taxes or not, but I do care when you are being a poster child for the north bound end of a south facing mule. The chest beating and self defending attitude ranks up there with my youngest child's temper tantrum, or to put it plainly, I could care less.
You attempting to be all high and mighty and acting like a male reproductive organ does. I hope you never find yourself in a position for someone with a similiar attitude to be condesending about your misfortune. But if you do, and someone else does it, I hope it it in my hearing, so I can point and laugh.
Armored_One 2 years, 1 month ago
Oh, I admit that I have set my manners aside from time to time when making some of the comments that I have on here, M_I_C.
There are times, however, that a proverbial baseball bat to the back of the head is a bit more satisfying than merely verbally evicerating someone online.
With some, though, were it to happen in real life, I would likely end up being charged with abuse of a wooden sports item. LOL
justiceseeker2011 2 years, 1 month ago
You don't even sound like a christian yet you use the action of an individual who does something positive to praise the Most High. Your words say volumes and your actions speak softly. What a hypocrite... or should I say Pharisee!
ebyrdstarr 2 years, 1 month ago
So you do all these nice things to help out your community. Why, then, would you begrudge the rest of us helping out this family? What problem is there for you to be?
blindrabbit 2 years, 1 month ago
Sierra: Mt. Whitney in the California Sierra's at 14,495 ft. is the highest point in the lower 48. Based on your postings my guess is that you are a little bit higher than that. Being a Californian, I am offended that your moniker would besmirch the Sierra Range that adds so much beauty to the county
nativeson 2 years, 1 month ago
He that despises his neighbor sins: but he that has mercy on the poor, happy is he. – Proverbs 14:21
Easy enough. This isn't about what this family did or did not do to plan for this tragic loss of all of their possessions. We as caring human beings should respond to their need.
ignatius_j_reilly 2 years, 1 month ago
Boom. Thanks for this post.
ebyrdstarr 2 years, 1 month ago
Beyond affording it, how much does it really cover? My sister had need of her renter's insurance once and would up paying to replace most of the stuff out of pocket because that item wasn't covered and that item wasn't covered and etc. even with renter's insurance, a family of 11 who lost everything in a fire would still benefit tremendously from donations from the community.
naturalist 2 years, 1 month ago
This article truly warmed my heart. It's wonderful how people in our community come together to help others in times like this.
gatekeeper 2 years, 1 month ago
I work my butt off, pay my taxes, etc... and I gave to this family. How dare any idiots insult others for helping anyone in need? It doesn't matter what religion you are, how much you make, etc.... when someone is in need you should help them. The world would be a much better place if everyone lent a hand to others in need.
Growing up, my family didn't have much money, but always helped others when needed. My father (bless his soul) taught me that you sometimes sacrifice to help others. He was known for taking in strays - both people and animals - and there were many times we had others staying with us when they needed a hand up. I am so thankful to have had parents that taught me that you should go out of your way to help everyone and anyone. Too bad others aren't brought up with the same values.
So much of the collections for this family were done on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day of community service. A certain poster obviously has no sense of community service and no love for his fellow man. Such a shame.
ktbob1954 2 years, 1 month ago
Sierraclub....never mind that your grammar sucks, but just how many family members do YOU support?...When you have to provide for, love and care for, 11 members of your family, and know what that entails, I don't think you have a right to open your pie hole. This family DOES pay taxes, and DOES have a job....so your statements are ludicrous. Now, if you are being so udderly rude because of the ethnicity of this family, then you are truly abomniable. But like another poster said, even if this did happen to you, people would rally to help you as well, which is unfortunate because you would not appreciate it at all. I hope you never have to swallow your holier-than-thou attitude and have to ask someone for help...because it truly humbles you...a word I don't think is in your vocabulary. Kudos to everyone in this area who is willing to help those in need...just makes the Lawrence community a wonderful place to live...
kansas12 2 years, 1 month ago
As a member of a family who lost everything but the clothes on our backs in a house fire many years ago, I applaud anyone who has helped these people in any way. We were fortunate to have insurance, but it is truly a devastating experience to lose your home, your belongings, your memorabilia and many, many things that will never be replaced--with insurance or without. I don't know where we would have been without the support of our local community and many from afar that we didn't even know. Sometimes it's not just about replacing things, but extending kindness and friendship in time of need as well.
jellybeanies 2 years, 1 month ago
Too bad the entire thing is probably a scam. These people never have anything because they are evicted for non-payment of rent and are removed from the homes they live in with a sheriff escort. They left the majority of their belongings in my home which I had to pay storage for and they never picked them up. This is probably just their newly invented way to take advantage of others.
I will repeat what I said in a previous article:
This family rented my home while my family was out of state. My husband is military and was stationed far away from Kansas. He was serving in Iraq. We rented our home because we could not afford to support two households while we were away from our home in Lawrence.
They did not pay their rent, but I tried to have a heart because they were such a large family and gave them months to get caught up. They never did. We ended up evicting them. When I returned to my home, it had been destroyed by this family. They did over $40,000 worth of damage. Every wall, floor, appliance, fixture....everything was destroyed. The house was filthy. Mold was growing on the walls in the laundry room. They had allowed a charcoal grill to fall over on the wooden deck and it burnt through the deck and the siding of my home. There was candle wax everywhere throughout the home in the carpets and on the window sills. I suspect they frequently had their electricity shut off and relied on candles. One of the mirrored medicine cabinets in a bathroom had been in contact with a flame and burned.
I can't even begin to explain the blatant disregard this family had for my home. I feel sorry for anyone that rents to them because it seems they destroy anything they come into contact with. I am glad no one was hurt, but I will have no sympathy for them past that.
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