Time to Show Some Stillwater Love and Pay it Forward

Three years ago almost to this day, I stood next to my new apartment in Fargo, ND, and watched in horror as it became totally engulfed in flames.  Standing there on the side of the road, I was completely overcome with emotion, thinking about everything that I was losing in the apartment, pinching myself to see if it was all a dream and sobbing when I realized it wasn’t. What followed was two weeks of living in a hotel, a month of living in an empty apartment, and three months of working with the insurance company to get reimbursed for my losses.

The next day, the local newspaper printed a giant picture of me, crying by the side of the road, wearing my Starbucks uniform. While I was initially embarrassed (no one looks awesome when they’re crying!) what happened after that was beyond anything I could have imagined. As soon as the paper came out, complete strangers came through the drive-thru at Starbucks to drop off donations. On top of the staples of cash and food came offers to donate furniture, a place to stay, makeup, clothing and even kitchen supplies came pouring in. One of my co-workers wrote to Starbucks Corporate on my behalf (along with my two roomates’, who also worked at Starbucks), and Starbucks immediately added $500 to our paychecks that week. The local mall sent us gift certificates for new clothes. The Red Cross set us up with a free hotel room and some money to buy basics, like underwear, toothbrushes and clothing. Local restaurants gave us free meals, and the amount of hugs and well-wishes I received still makes me feel warm and fuzzy. 

While I was lucky because in the end my insurance covered most of it (after a rather large deductable), many of my neighbors didn’t have renter’s insurance, and were completely out of luck. 

When I heard about the Birchwood Townhouse fire this morning, I was immediately transported back to that day, standing on a street corner, surrounded by fire trucks, feeling the heat from the building burning, and alternating between sobbing, staring silently and looking away. 

Even if you're lucky enough to have insurance, many people don’t realize is how long it can take to get an insurance check. For me, it was three months. That’s three months of waiting, while still somehow having to get by on the cash you have and scrape up enough for the deductible. Literally everything you own is gone: underwear, Q-tips, toothbrushes, food, dishes, blankets, clothes, everything. For my neighbors who weren’t insured, a check never came.

If I and everyone else in my building hadn’t had the support of that community, I don’t know what we would have done. So, as I’m reading about the victims of this fire, I hope that anyone who can help does so. Whether it’s baking a pan of brownies, working with Valley Outreach to donate some essentials like toothbrushes, food, soap, or money, or donating something from the business you own or work for, I can assure you that every little thing will help. 

I still have a card that someone dropped off for me that said “I saw your picture in the paper. I don’t have much, but I hope that this can help.  Please do everything you can to pay it forward when you are able.”  The card was unsigned, and contained $20. I used it to buy hair ties, socks and underwear, so I could get back to my job. I've since made sure that I donate more than $20 a year to nonprofits that help disaster victims.

So, people of Stillwater, let’s rise up and pay it forward. It's really easy to push incidents like this aside, thinking that it will never happen to you, but I, along with our neighbors at Birchwood, are living proof that it does happen. No matter what we do to help, we will make a difference in their lives and lessen the burden that the upcoming months have in store for them. Hopefully some day, they can pay it forward, too.