Community Rallies Together for Cummins Family

Just hours after the Cummins’ home was engulfed in fire due to a car crash along Byberry Road Tuesday, community members in Hatboro and throughout Upper Moreland immediately began to plan fundraising events to support the family.

“They’re overwhelmed by the compassion and thoughtfulness of the people,” Angie Cannon, a close friend of the Cummins, said.

According to a , the house fire started around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. Within minutes, the Cummins home and all of its possessions were consumed, leaving only a charred skeletal structure.

While the family was able to escape the inferno safely, they were forced to move out of Upper Moreland. According to Cannon, the family is currently staying with relatives in Collegevile.

By lunchtime that Tuesday, Cannon had met with another friend of the Cummins family, Judy Brunner, to discuss ways of helping the family.

The idea of asking the community for furniture and home-related donations to replace lost possessions was suggested. However, Cannon consulted with another Upper Moreland family who suffered a house fire last year. This family explained that the Cummins family would have nowhere to put such donations.

“So, we came up with a garage sale,” Cannon said. “This way, people can donate their possessions and still help out the family.”

The garage sale is scheduled to take place this Saturday, from 8 a.m. to noon.

According to Brunner, several houses along or just off Orangeman’s Road, from Byberry to Pioneer roads, will participate, including her own home at 2595 Exton Road.

Both Cannon and Brunner agreed that time was a factor in helping the Cummins family get back on their feet.

After their lunch, they set out to create and then distribute over 100 flyers advertising Saturday’s event.

Several members of the community helped by contacting local media and enhancing word-of-mouth advertisements through social-networking sites.

Larger organizations have also helped spread the news, including the , where the Cummins children attend school, and where Jim Cummins is a soccer coach, as well as in Hatboro, where the Cummins family attends services.

As a result, in less than two days, Cannon and Brunner have fielded an unexpected surge of phone calls from people who both know and don’t know the family.

Brunner said each person asked if they could donate funds, home furnishings or help to further spread the word.

“Our whole community is coming together right now to help them,” Brunner said. “When tragedies like this happen in our community, they rally around each other and support each other, and show their love.”

Along with the garage sales, light refreshments will be sold, and cash donations will also be accepted. All proceeds will go to the Cummins family.

The next fundraising event will be a beef-and-beer. The date for that event has not yet been determined.

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Please see attached flyer for more information.

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