Support for Kat and Rory

In the early morning of Friday, Oct. 23, a devastating fire broke out in Buxton, NC.  The neighborhood is on a quiet cul-de-sac and full of locals, teachers and Coast Guard families.  My friend, Kat, 16 and her brother, Rory, 11, were away visiting their grandparents.  Their mother, Sarah, was lost to the fire; their father and a family friend were badly burned; and their close friends and neighbors in the duplex--a mother and her two young children--were also killed. Their beloved beach dog, Tonka, and pet lizard, Mushu, also perished in the fire.

I am starting this fundraiser in honor of one of my best friends and her family.  My friend Kat is one of those people who lights up a room when she enters it, and makes everyone smile.  She was the first friend I made when I started at a new school.  Despite the pandemic, Kat worked all summer cooking in a restaurant called The Wreck with her Mom, Sarah, here in Cape Hatteras, NC.  If you visit the Outer Banks, they are part of the local population who work in the service industry to help make other people's vacations wonderful.  And they love life.

Sarah was like a mother to me and who I will never see again.  She "never knew a stranger" as people say.  Sarah made me feel welcome from the first time I met her and she was the light in the neighborhood--decorating, welcoming everyone,  creating costumes and props for school plays, jumping in to coach her son's baseball team when no one else would, helping anyone with anything they needed; she was going that day to pick her kids up and bring them home. Halloween is her favorite holiday and Kat's birthday is this coming month.  Sarah will miss both.

Kat is one of those people who is always happy--just like her mom. Kat is very smart, creative and outgoing.  She is an artist and taking AP courses as she plans to go to college after she graduates.  Rory is one of the nicest boys you could imagine.  He is respectful, smart and funny. 

Kat and Rory have that light in them from their mother and I don't want to see it diminished.  They need help in replacing their lost comfort items as well as basic necessities.  Their father also faces a long recovery and mounting medical bills. Their futures look very different from what they were just a few days ago.

I am asking you for even the smallest donation just to help them shoulder the life that now face. I want them to feel a hug from the world and keep the light in their eyes.  Thank you.
Isabella Lettieri