SHEBOYGAN FALLS, WI (WTAQ) – Dozens took part in a candlelight vigil at River Park in Sheboygan Falls Friday evening as the mourning continues for the three children who passed away from this week’s house fire in that city.
This event is just one of many ways the Sheboygan Falls and surrounding areas have shown they are ready to help the family of Chris and Kristi Maki.
This included Sheboygan North High School, which raised $2,322.09 for the family Friday in a Miracle Minute fundraiser. They tell WHBL News they also are planning a brat fry in February to raise funds.
Prior to the creation of a fund at Associated Bank in Sheboygan, people have been contributing to a Go Fund Me page set up by brother-in-law Ryan Passini, which was around 120-thousand dollars early Saturday morning. “It has gone well beyond what we expected,” says Passini”. It’s just absolutely amazing. The community is amazing, and we’re getting stuff even all over the county; people writing in, donating and offering whatever they can so it really is amazing.”
Passini tells WHBL News that it isn’t just money that has been donated. “There have been an insane amount of items coming in that through various drop-off places and things like that. Right now they have an overwhelming amount of clothing, so we had to let everyone know we need to settle down with that; but toothbrushes, shampoo, everything you can think of. We’ve had offers of housing, dining tables, everything.”
A statement released by the family Thursday says the focus the next few days is on the funeral services set for Monday at Southside Alliance Church. Passini says the family church, Crossroads Community Church, will be working with the family for future needs. “We do have a page set up through Crossroads, and they are taking log information. If you want to donate something you are all being added to a list and you will be updated with those needs.”
As for the parents, Passini says he believes the shock of the fire has begun to fade as they face the road ahead. “They had time now to kind of move away with the passing of Ben and things like that. So they are having to go down those lines of all these other things they need to take care of, and with that they’re able to take the time and kind of see what’s going on. They’re looking at the Go Fund Me page a little bit, they’re seeing the messages, they’re able to read the messages that people are personally sending them, and they’re overwhelmed with gratitude.”
“They do have a place picked out that’s somebody offered up in terms of temporary housing, and then you have all the legal stuff to deal with,” says Passini. “Once all that settles, you’re going to have to figure out where to go from here and how to, and I think they’re going to rely on a lot of people, counseling, things like that.”
Passini says the parents also want people to take time to recognize those who have helped them already. One of these groups is the City of Sheboygan Falls Fire Department, who led the response to the fire call Tuesday. They are encouraging people to attend their brat fry fundraiser on Sunday. “This is simply to say thank you for them. They need to be in the spotlight also for what they did and a lot of them are having a difficult time as you can imagine. There are some young guys on the force and even older guys that maybe never ran into this. Chris and Kristi want to make sure that everybody who deserves recognition is getting that, not just them, for what’s happened.”
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(Story courtesy of Rusty Mehlberg WHBL)
