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Community Rallies For Fire Victims

Tribune photo by YVETTE C. HAMMETT

Larry Bunkley, left, his fianceé, Tina Henderson and their three-month old daughter, Lilly, were left homeless after a grease fire gutted their kitchen and smoke destroyed nearly everything they owned.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: January 14, 2009

RIVERVIEW - Standing outside their burned-out house wearing clothes donated by the Emergency Care Help Organization, Larry Bunkley and Tina Henderson wondered what the future will hold.

The fire- and smoke-damaged house off Simmons Loop Road, owned by Bunkley's parents, will soon be in foreclosure. With the loss of pretty much all of their possessions in a Jan. 5 grease fire at the home, which was uninsured, the couple has no idea where they and their 3-month-old daughter, Lilly, will live.

The community is reaching out to the former U.S. Marine and his fiancee, still in shock over the events.

Neighbors Paula and John Shepherd were there for them almost immediately to help care for the baby while the couple lived through a chaotic evening.

The Red Cross put them up in a hotel for the week and they moved temporarily to Henderson's grandfather's home.

And local businesswoman Stacy Self kicked the effort into high gear, contacting two local chambers of commerce, the Greater Brandon Community Foundation and the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) to seek help for the couple.

"Just when you think everything is bad, people like this come out of the woodwork to help you," Henderson said, teary-eyed as she gently held her baby.

The family dog, Peanut, is for now staying in the fenced-in yard behind the burned-out house. They don't know yet if they'll find a place to accommodate themselves and their dog.

"The main thing, after getting help from ECHO and the Red Cross, is we need to find a place we can afford to live," Bunkley said.

"I contacted the Brandon Community Foundation, the Ruskin Chamber and the Riverview Chamber and got a lot of response," Self said. "The foundation is working on finding them a place to live.

"They really lost everything," she said, "baby bottles, baby formula, clothes, everything. If people would just go through their closets and cabinets and find doubles of anything, dishes, towels, shampoo, glasses. They need it all."

HOW YOU CAN HELP

To assist with cash donations or gift cards or to offer any other help, contact Stacy Self at stacyself@hotmail.com. Donations can also be dropped off at Home Service Center, 1601 U.S. 41 S., in Ruskin.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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