The Ladwig family has been overwhelmed by the “amazing support” they’ve received from the Sunshine Coast since their house in Port Mellon burned down on Aug. 16.
“I feel very blessed to be in such a supportive community,” Brendan Ladwig told Coast Reporter this week.
Brendan and Amber were set to marry on Aug. 19, but after their home burned down and they narrowly escaped with their two kids, three-year-old Lachlan and 10-year-old Lilly, they weren’t sure they should push forward with it.
The couple had lost all of their decorations and wedding supplies, even Amber’s wedding ring, but thankfully her dress had been stored at another location.
After some prompting from family and friends, Amber and Brendan decided to go forward with their wedding despite the setback, choosing instead to focus on the positive.
The wedding provided a special opportunity for the community to show its support. “Some of our vendors ended up not charging us for their contribution to our wedding or just charging the half of the deposit we already put down and not wanting the rest of the money,” Amber said. “The vendors were very kind and gracious to us.”
Various businesses, organizations and individuals have stepped up to help the family move forward during the past week. Through Emergency Support Services the family received some vouchers for Mark’s Work Wearhouse and London Drugs to get basic clothing and toiletries, and individuals started flooding the family with offers of household items and tools, which Amber and Brendan weren’t able to accept because they had nowhere to store anything.
This weekend that will change. The family was gifted a storage locker to keep items in for a month, and as of Aug. 27 they will be able to accept donations that have been coming in through their Help the Ladwig Family Facebook Page.
Amber’s sister and friend are manning the page and coordinating things for the Ladwigs.
The Fields store in Gibsons reached out to the family shortly after hearing about the tragedy and offered the family of four a shopping spree to pick out new outfits for everyone, including socks, shoes, underwear and sweaters.
“It was really great,” Amber said.
She thanks everyone for the “amazing support” they’ve offered her family to date.
“It’s hard because there’s so many people,” Amber said. “How do we thank everybody without excluding anybody?”
From individual community members helping with the cleanup after the fire to the generosity of businesses and online donors, the Ladwigs have been moved to tears during the past week.
“It’s really amazing and humbling to be in a position where you’re not used to asking for help and having people just free-heartedly giving it to you,” Amber said. “It really takes you back and it’s hard not to become emotional about it when you really sit in that space.”
She said she can’t express how much she has appreciated the Sunshine Coast support during the past week or how that support has impacted her family.
“I love this community. I can’t say enough about the people who are here stepping forward to support us,” Amber said. “I’m so proud to say that this is where I live and that this is where my kids are growing up.”
The Ladwigs’ GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/2jzxees had raised more than $14,000 as of this week. The money will be used to help the Ladwigs get through the next little bit and start to rebuild, as they didn’t have fire insurance and have lost everything. The ultimate plan is to build a new house on their lot at the end of Dunham Road in Port Mellon.
“The kids both want to go home so we’re looking at the future and how we’re going to take them there,” Amber said.
