With an online fundraising campaign, community members are rallying around two brothers whose home caught fire last week.
Flin Flon residents Dan and Luke Lysohirka suffered a devastating loss last Thursday morning when Dan’s trailer on Tamarack Drive burst into flames.
Firefighters rushed in to put out the fire and address smoke damage, but could not prevent the death of Luke’s one-year-old chocolate lab, Odin. The brothers both lost all their possessions in the fire.
“All they had is what they were wearing that day,” said Bernice Stoltz, mother of Dan and Luke.
Stoltz said that night Dan received another blow when he found out that the mine where he worked was being shut down.
In the fire’s wake, as neighbours and friends expressed their condolences to the Lysohirka family, Maureen Henderson decided to take the initiative to give the men a boost.
Henderson works with Stoltz at Manitoba Hydro. With her friend’s approval, Henderson started a campaign for the Lysohirka brothers on GoFundMe, a crowd-funding website.
The campaign website, under the title Dan & Luke Lysohirka REBUILD, features a photo of Odin and a message from Henderson.
“Along with Odin, life-long belongings of Dan and Luke Lysohirka were also taken,” reads the page. “Flin Flon, let’s take care of these local boys and put them back on their feet again and show them a brighter tomorrow!”
The page was launched on Saturday, April 23. As of Monday morning, 62 separate donations had been made, for a total of $3,605, approximately 70 per cent of the $5,000 goal.
“It’s just unbelievable,” said Stoltz of the campaign. “I’ve been talking to friends and family out of town and telling them how great the people of Flin Flon are.”
Stoltz said her family has also received an outpouring of help from friends, neighbours and even strangers.
“We’ve had people we don’t even know give us stuff, household items, calling and messaging us, seeing what we need. People are so kind and generous.”
After seeing how quickly the funds and words of support rolled in, Henderson tends to agree.
“Flin Flon may not have a big population, but they have big hearts,” she said.
To view the campaign website, visit www.gofundme.com/Dan-Luke-REBUILD
