SOUR LAKE, Texas — On Thanksgiving Day, a Sour Lake family of 10 escaped a house fire with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Now, a coworker of one of the family members wants to help.
Since Sara Simmons posted to social media a little over a day ago, she says she has felt the support of the community for the Lerma family.
Early Thanksgiving morning as the Lerma family slept, they had two turkeys smoking overnight in their front yard. A grease fire started and quickly spread to the house.
"We just kind of watched our whole house burn, and see everything we had burn," said Desta Marie Gonzalez, a family member.
The fire destroyed everything the Lerma family owned.
"Some of us didn't get to get out and grab our phones, luckily I sleep with my phone in my hand," said Gonzalez.
When Simmons heard about the situation her coworker was now in, she knew she needed to help.
"I heard the next day, and I just couldn't believe it. I knew I had to look at my house and see what I could do to help," she said.
Simmons posted to Facebook and started getting responses. She watched the donation pile at the Lumberton Domino's grow.
"What better way to help than to go to Facebook and go to the All About Lumberton page, and I started getting tons of comments back. People started giving, and bringing to the store and it started going from there," said Simmons.
So far the donations for both the family's GOFUNDME and clothing drive has had people coming in to help.
"We need anything from baby clothes, to women's and men's clothing. Anything you can give during this difficult time is appreciated," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez provided a list of items that the family needs:
- A size seven in clothes and a one in shoes for an 8-year-old boy.
- Men's shirt sizes ranging from Medium to XXL. Pants sizes 29/30, 38/40 and 36/38. Shoe that are 9.5, 7.5 and 7.
- Clothes sized 12 and shoes sized four for a 10-year-old girl.
- Size 0-3, 3-6 for a 3-month-old girl.
- Women's pants sized 12-18. Shirt sized Large through XXL. Shoe sizes are 7.5 and 8 for four women.
If you would like to donate to the Lerma family, you can drop off items at the Domino's in Lumberton or donate to their GOFUNDME.