Donations, Gifts Sought for Crystal Lake Family Who 'Lost Everything' in Fire Over Christmas Holiday

Like many area children, 3-year-old Ava Tymchyshyn excitedly woke on Christmas morning to many new toys and gifts from Santa.

But in an unfortunate turn of events, those presents, along with most possessions within Ava and her mother’s home on McCabe Street, were destroyed less than 24 hours later in a fire that broke out on Dec. 26.

Single mother Nicole Tymchyshyn became trapped in her bathroom during the blaze but was brought to safety by firefighters, according to a GoFundMePage now set up to help raise donations for the Crystal Lake family. No one was seriously injured but Tymchyshyn’s home has been deemed uninhabitable.

“...they were informed that they lost everything,“ according to the GoFundMe page. “The only thing they own now is the clothes on their backs and the few items they had with them (at the time of the fire),”

Nichole’s co-workers at Rogy’s Learning Place have set up the GoFundMe page with the hopes of raising $5,000 to help the local family start rebuilding their life, according to the donation page.

A Christmas benefit event has also been organized for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Buddyz Pizzeria in Algonquin, 2749 W. Algonquin Road in Algonquin. People can bring donations and gifts for Ava to replace the presents she lost during the Christmas fire, according to the Northwest Herald.

So far, $870 has been raised for the Tymchyshyn family on the Go Fund Me page. Visit the website to make a donation.