A Lockport woman is heading fundraising efforts to support a family whose Prentice Street home was destroyed by a fire earlier this week.
The fundraiser on GoFundMe has a goal of $10,000 to support Becky Dalton and her five young children after losing their home and most of their possessions in the Monday morning fire.
“It’s just devastating,” Dalton said. “The fire traveled upstairs into my daughter’s room and then the other rooms. The one ceiling collapsed on my daughter’s stuff and then my son’s room had heavy smoke damage. Then my younger kids, all their toys and their clothes … are gone.”
While Dalton and her children were not home at the time of the fire, their two pet dogs and a ferret were inside as the blaze ravaged its way through the home from a first-floor room. One of the dogs and the ferret died in the fire.
Tonia Jackson, Dalton’s next-door neighbor who started the fundraiser, was in her home right next door as the fire broke out.
“I looked out my bedroom window and I saw smoke billowing out from underneath Becky’s roof off her back porch,” Jackson said.
In starting the GoFundMe, Jackson said that she is simply looking to help out a fellow neighbor and mother.
“We look out for each other’s kids and our kids are friends. My kids love to go over there and play with the animals. (They’re) a sweet family and they really deserve every bit of help and attention that I can get with this GoFundMe for them,” Jackson said.
In the wake of the fire, the family received assistance from the American Red Cross and is currently staying in a hotel. Dalton hopes that whatever money the fundraiser yields can go toward a down payment on a new house, adding that she is thankful to those who have already provided monetary and item donations so far.
“It’s for the sake of my kids. If it was just me, I could couch-hop, but it’s my kids that I’m worried about. My little kids, want to go home,” Dalton said, “but where is home? We don’t have a home.”
Donations can be made online at https://gofund.me/8a170535.