F. G. Gnome says: My boss Steve, the famous Gnome Handler, is close by a sad and tragic happening this week. Please read this and see if you can pitch in, too.
Firefighter Loses Mother to Cancer ….
Then Loses House to Fire
Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and this is one of those times.
It’s hard enough going through life as a single mother, raising a young son without any material or emotional support from the father, but then to find out you have to battle cancer at the same time, is beyond most people’s imagination. More hard luck than the average person should have to face at one time.
As the son, imagine the heartbreak at 19 years of age, standing by while your Mother, the only family you’ve ever known, loses her fight to cancer….with no insurance to cover the expenses….then imagine that 3 weeks after the funeral, you also lose your home in a devastating fire.
This is exactly what has happened to Tate, a northwestern Pennsylvania volunteer firefighter and EMT. The young man serves his local VFD and works part time at Emergycare in Erie, Pennsylvania, to help pay his way through college. His mother was a single mom, working to support her and Tate, while living in an older mobile home in a rural area.
Thursday morning, Tate left his home in Townville, PA and was headed to work when his home caught fire. First arriving units reported the trailer “fully involved”. There’s no way to come back from that. The home and contents were a complete loss. Insurance coverage was the bare minimum and there are substantial medical bills left over from his mother’s cancer fight.
I know times are tight right now, but for this young man just starting out, the times are downright terrible. Tate is not your ordinary older teenager…he’s one of the good guys….local rednecks would call him “a good ol boy”. He’s worth saving.
This is a hardworking young man who deserves some help, especially right here at the holidays, so I’m appealing to all Firefighters and EMTs nationwide to step up and give us a small donation.
We’ve set up a bank account at Northwest Savings Bank in Meadville, PA to help cover expenses and I can accept PayPal for those of you that aren’t local and want to use a debit or credit card. We need to get a roof over his head and make sure he’s stays in school. Anything you can give, will help.
Steve Marshall, aka “Gnome Handler”
PayPal donations can be sent to me at mainstreetmarshall (at) yahoo (dot) com.
Checks can be mailed to
Steve Marshall
21702 Golden Dr
Meadville PA 16335
made out to:
“Tate Keplinger House Fire Fund”
Thanks ever so much.
Firegeezer adds: Many FD’s have a small charity fund for this type of assistance. Could you see if your department can help? Thanks.
