LES COTEAUX – In a small neighbourhood in Les Coteaux, Christmas Eve was disrupted after a devastating fire broke out.
It quickly spread across two homes, as dozens of firefighters rushed to the scene.
Fortunately for Alain De Lafontaine and his wife, Evangeline Santos, who lived in one of the homes, everyone made it out alive.
Thanks to neighbours and relatives who live down the street, De Lafontaine’s three kids and their grandparents were all saved.
“It’s really tough,” said Santos. “Imagine when my kids ask, ‘I want to go back, I want to go back home,’ we don’t know how to explain to them. They don’t realize that we don’t have a home already, so it’s been hard for us.”
To help ease the pain, the community is rallying, trying to lend the families a hand.
Natacha Michaud lives across the street and she put out a post on social media, calling for donations.
“If the community can come together to give what they can, when we have usually more than we have, why not,” she said.
Michaud and others are collecting clothes, furniture and household items for the families, and De Lafontaine and his wife, who will stay with relatives, can’t thank them enough.
“We’re so blessed,” said Santos. “We cannot imagine how people coming to us, we don’t know them, hugging, donating, giving stuff to us.”
For Michaud, it’s the least she can do.
“I don’t have much to give but I put out a post to ask for all the donations we can get and the phone keeps beeping,” said Michaud. “So thankfully there’s a lot of people with really nice hearts that are giving what they can.”
If you’d like to contribute, you can make a donation at Depanneur Hamel at 119, Route 338, in Les Coteaux or at the Boni-Soir located at number 80 on the same road.
Comments