Fundraisers established for family who lost home to fire

Published 12:00 pm Sunday, May 15, 2022

Old Black Bear Taproom has organized a fundraiser to help their longtime kitchen manager, Jaedon, and his family after they experienced a devastating house fire. On Wednesday, May 4, an early morning fire destroyed a home on Kirby Road in Athens. All of the occupants were able to get out safely but all of their belongings were lost.

Jaedon, his mom (the owner of Driftwood Dragonfly), stepfather and three younger brothers have been displaced and are now separated as they are staying in various parts of North Alabama. His grandfather, the owner of the home, lost his possessions also.

“Jaedon has been a wonderful employee, a good friend to all of us and is driven and extremely talented in the kitchen,” Todd Seaton, founder of Old Black Bear, said on the GoFundMe page he created. The goal is to help Jaedon find a furnished apartment for the next year.

Old Black Bear will match every donation, dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000.

“We do our best to treat our employees right and ,honestly, do consider them family. So for now, this is our best idea to make the greatest impact on Jaedon’s life and turn a bad situation into one that we hope is a catalyst for many good things in the future,” Seaton said.

A separate fundraiser has been created for Jaedon’s mom, stepfather and younger brothers. A family member has established a GoFundMe for the Crawford Family and Lanny, the grandfather.

To donate to Jaedon or his family, please visit the following links:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/our-friend-lost-it-all-we-want-to-help?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-donate-help-the-crawfords-lanny