Bring Hope to the Petrie Family This Thanksgiving

Update: I have increased this fundraiser because recently, after this unfortunate fire, Lee was diagnosed with Leukemia. He currently is in

Boston at Brigham & Women's Hospital to start his treatments immediately. Of course Jeannie will incur expenses while staying there to support him. Please help with supporting them through these trying times. Any small amount helps.

My name is Janet Brennick. I am a friend, classmate, and a long-time neighbor of Lee Petrie. On Sunday, Nov. 17, the Petrie family's home at 5 Sandalwood Circle in Kittery caught fire, causing significant damage and making the home uninhabitable for now. I've known Lee my entire life; I know his parents, his aunts & cousins, and I knew his grandparents! That's why it breaks my heart to see them displaced and at a loss.

Let me tell you a little about them. Lee is an 8th grade Social Studies Teacher at Marshwood School System in Eliot, Maine. He is loved dearly by his students and gives his all! He coached in his area for more that 30 years! Imagine the number of kids lives he touched with his knowledge, experience and natural kindness! He remembers everything! I wish I could tell you how many times I have reached out to him to get a name from our childhood or ask him if I have the details right about an experience we had growing up. I have so many great memories of growing up with Lee!

Jeannie, Lee's wife, is a retired and a kind person who is a mother and a grandmother. She holds her faith close to her, and her family closer.

In 2013, the two of them made the trip to Ethiopia and adopted their now 25-year-old son, Temesgen Petrie. Tem Petrie's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. “I've got to have my mom's cooking,” says the 25-year-old, who has lived with his parents, Jeannie and Lee Petrie, since they adopted him when he was 11.

Jeannie added, “I always host Thanksgiving. I recently retired and thought, 'Oh good, this year I'll have more time to do desserts and things and won't have to squeeze everything into a weekend.'”

Those plans have changed.

Please donate to this generous, caring, loving family to help them to rebuild their family home. Tis the season to be generous; any amount will help and it all adds up. Your generosity could make this Thanksgiving Holiday a little more BLESSED for the Petrie Family!

Mexico High School Class of 1983, please, let's rally around our classmate!!!

Thank you in advance for your generosity!