Donations Pour in to Help Family Who Lost Everything in Fire

An Amherst single mother has been humbled by the outpouring of support shown to her and her three kids after a fire destroyed their home while she was out celebrating her birthday, according to a story in the Nashua Telegraph.

Kerry Greenhalgh and her children were gone from their home for a few hours on Dec. 5, and she says when they returned home her daughter opened the door to a house full of smoke.

Fire Chief Mark Boynton told Patch on Wednesday a spark from the wood stove escaped popped out onto the floor when the door was opened to extinguish the fire. It went unnoticed and then the house was empty for hours, giving the spark and opportunity to burn down into the floor, creating a hole about the size of his desk.

The more significant damage came from the smoke, he said. It blackened everything. The walls were black, the floors were black, anything made of fabric – furniture, linens, clothing – was completely saturated with smoke.

To help Greenhalgh, her friend Roxanne Cahill came and took her 15-, 11- and 9-year-old children for the night, giving them everything they needed including pajamas, food and a ride to school in the morning. 

Since then, Cahill set up a GoFundMe account using crowd funding to raise donations and help get the family back on its feet.

Greenhalgh told the Telegraph in addition to more than $5,000 in donations they've received, they have seen numerous other donations come in, including gift cards, clothes, school supplies from the Souhegan School District and cash donations from other servers from her restaurant chain Carrabba's Italian Grill. 

Read the full story of community compassion just before the holidays on the Nashua Telegraph website.