At almost 1 AM on March 23, 2023, the Bair family, who were nestled in their beds asleep, were suddenly awakened by someone yelling, “FIRE!” Kassandra’s husband, Brian, jumped out of bed and told her to go grab the children. She quickly grabbed her infant daughter and woke up her 10-year-old and 8-year-old girls. Brian felt the front door for heat and carefully opened it. Black smoke came billowing through the door, and Brian told her to run out the back door with their daughters. When she opened the back door, she and her girls saw flames shooting 10 ft High from the adjacent apartment’s back window. The stairs from their backyard to the street were barely visible from the amount of smoke in their backyard, and it was nearly impossible not to breathe it in. They made it out to the street while her husband stayed behind, making sure that their upstairs neighbor and his 12-year-old son made it out as well. He also alerted the other neighbors. Thankfully, everyone makes it out alive.
However, by the time her husband tried to go back for the animals, the fire department didn’t let him. They watched as the apartment burned down from the street while the dog and three cats were, to their knowledge, trapped.
10 days later, their cat, who they’ve had for eight years, was found alive under a neighboring building. She had somehow escaped and was waiting for them. She suffered burns to her face and ears but was rushed to the emergency animal hospital after being found and miraculously recovered.
Since the fire two months ago, the Bair family has finally secured a new home, but they have next to nothing. They escaped the fire with the clothes on their backs. Kassandra didn’t even think to grab bottles or diapers. In a selfless act, her oldest daughter (age 10) didn’t grab her phone or iPad but rather her little sister’s stuffed animal she’s had since she was a toddler – the only toy that remains between them. The family would later find out that the fire that almost claimed their lives and killed their pets was an intentional arson attack set by someone angry with a neighbor.
Since moving into their new home, they’ve secured beds and dressers for everyone but need practically everything else. Kassandra works in sales, and Brian, who is an army combat veteran, works in construction. Although they both work, as you can imagine, the financial burden of rebuilding their lives is more than they can bear, so we are asking you to help set this family up with a good path forward and consider giving to their registries.
To help this family, we have put together TWO registries – a Walmart registry AND an Amazon registry, depending on where we could find the best-priced items. We’ve included bedding, clothing, hygiene, and other essential items for each member of the family as well as a few fun and decorative items for the girls, a couch, TV, and a cat tree for their miracle kitty. There’s also an option to send Walmart gift cards so they can buy other needed items. The Amazon diaper fund will also go toward diapers and anything that is not purchased off of the registry.
BEFORE YOU ORDER, please ensure any personal wishlist items you have saved for yourself are removed from your cart, and only the items you wish to send the Bair family are added. Then, click the gift address at the checkout to ensure the donation items ship directly to them!
Larger purchases on Amazon, such as the couch, have gift gifting enabled, so anyone can contribute any amount toward those items. Every gift counts, so please consider helping this hardworking family!
Click here for their Amazon registry
Click here for their Walmart registry
Here’s a little bit about the girls to help make your shopping more personal. Items are also tagged on Amazon regarding who each item is for.
Madeline (was 10) is now 11. She loves to draw and is a very talented artist. She’s a big fan of anything anime, especially Sailor Moon. She also likes Pokemon cards. Her favorite colors are Dark purple and Dark blue. She’s also a fan of black and white. Kassandra describes her as her “little rock n roll girl.”
Lillian is 8 and loves animals. In fact, she wants to be a vet when she grows up. She also enjoys art, especially clay, and loves neon colors. She also loves reptiles, National Geographic, fairies, and galaxies.
Evelyn is now 10 months old and would enjoy a few toys too!
Both older girls collected Squishmallows and had galaxy stars on their ceilings and string lights hanging in their old rooms.
That being said, anything and everything will make such a HUGE difference! Let’s join together and help this family!
REGISTRY 1: To give to the Bair Family’s Walmart registry, CLICK HERE.
REGISTRY 2: To give to the Bair Family’s Amazon registry, CLICK HERE.
