Account established at Vintage Bank of Kansas for fire victims

By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Amy Husman and her family are five-year residents of Peabody, but the support they got from the community after losing everything in a house fire that destroyed their home was an unexpected blessing, she said.

“We’re overwhelmed by the stuff we’ve gotten, and the help from volunteers,” she said.

Husman, her husband, and their three kids have been living in an RV since the fire, she said.

“For such a small town, there have been so many people who reached out,” she said. “It’s been really nice. I don’t even know everything we’ve gotten.”

There was a Go Fund Me account set up online by Friday, as well as an account at Vintage Bank through the Peabody Association of Churches, said Angela DeFisher, pastor of Peabody United Methodist Church.

“It’s a small community at its finest,” she said. “Any time there’s a need they are willing to step up, whether it’s donating clothes or finances.”

The inclusion of clothes in the donations, which are dropped off at Peabody Township Library, is a major benefit, Husman said.

“We’re not lacking anything,” she said. “The fact that my children didn’t go without clothes, plus the money and what’s been donated, has made it so we can be home as a family and start sifting through the ashes.”

The bank account is a big way to help a family and makes it easier for the association to keep track of donations, DeFisher said.

“It was a convenience for the Association of Churches to make sure we keep the money that comes in for these special things separate from our other funds,” she said. “Then we don’t get confused in our accounting.”

It will allow community members to deposit checks into the account at Vintage Bank, and a minimum balance of $10 is needed to keep it open, DeFisher said.

Setting up an account will boost the chances that a family in need receives assistance, Husman said.

“That’s something they’re going to do for anyone in the community who needs help,” she said. “Getting the word out about that is great. Gosh, even more help will come in.”