MUSKEGON, Mich. — A local family lost everything in a house fire just weeks before Christmas. Thankfully, the community quickly stepped up to help. Now, they’re paying it forward.
Drew Simonelli was helpless as he watched his home erupt in flames on December 2nd. He was at work when the fire started, while his four kids and girlfriend were inside. Thankfully, they made it out safely.
“What's more important is the family, my kids, everybody made it out safe,” said Simonelli. “Things can be rebuilt. Obviously, the most painful part of it is just all the pictures, memories, things that I had since I was four years old.”
They lost everything in the dead of winter and weeks before Christmas. Then the unexpected happened, people in the community came out in numbers to help.
“We were in a house within 48 hours with lots of support from the community, sending us gift cards, money, stuff for the kids,” said Simonelli.
He plans to rebuild, but also has other plans to pay it forward, after receiving overwhelming support from the community.
“The love and everything that's been sent our way, it's allowed our family just to move on and smile and, you know, look at it more positively,” said Simonelli.
His sister Jana Routt manages emergency services with The United Way, The Lakeshore. She says a woman in Muskegon Heights also lost her home to a fire, and has been staying in a hotel. However, unlike her brother, she wasn’t getting any help.
“This woman who lost everything on Thanksgiving and nobody knows about it, I want to bring light to the fact that she needs love,” said Routt.
FOX 17 gave that woman a call and she was filled with emotion.
“Thank you very much, it’s greatly appreciated,” she said. “I would never have expected anything like this to happen to me, but I guess God is on my side. Sometimes it feels like no one is on your side.”
Any donations coming in to the Simonelli family will go towards helping her get back on her feet.
If you’d like to help, you can donate to the Emergency Response Fund created for her by The United Way here.
