By: Shubhda Srivastava

After seeing a moving story on the news about a Dallas family who lost everything in a fire on Jan. 20, an anonymous community member felt moved to help. They contacted WFAA-TV reporter Sydney Persing, who covered the home fire story to see how they could make a donation of furniture and household items to the family.

On Jan. 23, Persing contacted the American Red Cross to see if they could help. The Red Cross swiftly organized the donation process and delivered the items to the family’s temporary home on the morning of Friday, Jan. 31.

“We send our thoughts, prayers and blessings to the family affected,” the unidentified donor said. “We hope these items help them as they recover.”

Lucrecia Chilel and her family were visiting relatives when they learned a devastating fire was sweeping through their Dallas apartment complex. By the time they returned, their Audelia Road home had been engulfed in flames.

Red Cross disaster responders arrived at the fire to provide immediate assistance to Chilel and other residents. Fortunately, Chilel and her family were able to stay with family members as they processed the tragic loss and figured out how to move forward.

“This kindness has truly touched our hearts,” Chilel said. “We’re so happy and thankful for the furniture, and God bless the donor. We can’t thank the Red Cross enough for their continued support, even after they’d already helped us once.”

In times of crisis, the Red Cross is a vital community lifeline for families affected by disaster. Thanks to the donor’s kindness and empathy as well as Persing’s storytelling, the Red Cross was able to make a difference for Chilel and her family by helping them recover from tragedy.

“Normally, I don’t see the end of the recovery phase on a Disaster Action Team (DAT) call,” said Nena Sopher, Red Cross community disaster program manager, “but today, I got to be part of it, and it was truly special.”