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Middletown, Del. —
Two families displaced by house fires last month have been receiving help from members of the M.O.T. community.
At 7 a.m. on Jan. 20, Jackie Lieske woke up to see her neighbors’ home in Chesapeake Meadows engulfed in flames.
“The first thing I did was panic,” the Middletown woman said.
The fire, which was started by an electrical malfunction, left Debbie and Tom Whiting homeless, along with their three children, one who is in remission from Stage 3 Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma.
“To make things worse, Hailey who is remission from cancer, spiked a fever of 104.6 that same night,” Lieske said.
The five-year-old was diagnosed with mild Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
Lieske said that the family of five was able to find a house to rent in their community beginning in February. It could take six to 12 months to repair the $150,000 in damage the family’s home in the 300 block of Bald Eagle Court sustained.
Several miles north of Middletown, another family lost their home in the Stanton area.
When Appoquinimink High School junior Corey Bennett returned to his Middletown home Jan. 19, his grandmother called and asked if he had a minute.
“She said that her house burnt down,” he said.
The 17-year-old has been living with his father and stepmother for about 10 years now, but he grew up with his grandmother, who also takes care of his six half-brothers and half-sisters.
At around 10:30 a.m., the trailer on Limestone Road where Nancy Bennett was raising her six grandchildren caught ablaze.
It was ruled accidental causing about $50,000 in damage.
The Red Cross told Nancy Bennett that they would pay for a hotel, her grandson said. But he’s still worried.
“A house is a house,” Corey Bennett said. “It’s the kids…”
He fears now that the state could step in and place his sibling in foster care because they do not have a home.
“It was shocking,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to hear it. I was expecting her to call and ask if I was coming up that weekend.”
How to help the Whiting’s
There are two ways that members of the community can help the family of five.
An account has been set up with the Middletown PNC Bank that anyone wishing to donate can write a check payable to the “Whiting Fire Fund,” Lieske said.
There will also be a fundraiser over a five day period at Pat’s Pizzeria in Middletown where 20 percent of the proceeds will go towards helping the family.
Two families displaced by house fires last month have been receiving help from members of the M.O.T. community.
At 7 a.m. on Jan. 20, Jackie Lieske woke up to see her neighbors’ home in Chesapeake Meadows engulfed in flames.
“The first thing I did was panic,” the Middletown woman said.
The fire, which was started by an electrical malfunction, left Debbie and Tom Whiting homeless, along with their three children, one who is in remission from Stage 3 Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma.
“To make things worse, Hailey who is remission from cancer, spiked a fever of 104.6 that same night,” Lieske said.
The five-year-old was diagnosed with mild Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
Lieske said that the family of five was able to find a house to rent in their community beginning in February. It could take six to 12 months to repair the $150,000 in damage the family’s home in the 300 block of Bald Eagle Court sustained.
Several miles north of Middletown, another family lost their home in the Stanton area.
When Appoquinimink High School junior Corey Bennett returned to his Middletown home Jan. 19, his grandmother called and asked if he had a minute.
“She said that her house burnt down,” he said.
The 17-year-old has been living with his father and stepmother for about 10 years now, but he grew up with his grandmother, who also takes care of his six half-brothers and half-sisters.
At around 10:30 a.m., the trailer on Limestone Road where Nancy Bennett was raising her six grandchildren caught ablaze.
It was ruled accidental causing about $50,000 in damage.
The Red Cross told Nancy Bennett that they would pay for a hotel, her grandson said. But he’s still worried.
“A house is a house,” Corey Bennett said. “It’s the kids…”
He fears now that the state could step in and place his sibling in foster care because they do not have a home.
“It was shocking,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to hear it. I was expecting her to call and ask if I was coming up that weekend.”
How to help the Whiting’s
There are two ways that members of the community can help the family of five.
An account has been set up with the Middletown PNC Bank that anyone wishing to donate can write a check payable to the “Whiting Fire Fund,” Lieske said.
There will also be a fundraiser over a five day period at Pat’s Pizzeria in Middletown where 20 percent of the proceeds will go towards helping the family.
Appoquinimink employees reach out to Bennett’s
Corey’s guidance counselor at Appoquinimink High School, Monica Parker, has taken initiative and began collection donations from faculty and staff to help her student’s displaced family.
“I sent out an e-mail to the faculty to see if anyone wanted to submit donations,” she said.
So far, Parker has collected $100 in cash, gift cards and a bag full of kids’ clothing. She says that she will continue to collect items.
“I know even though they’ll get placed, there will still be great need in time to come,” Parker said. “As long as people donate, I will continue to collect.”
Eight teachers have donated.
“It’s a rough time,” Corey said. “But we’re going to work through this and we’re going to fix this.”
