By Krista Salter

The Orange Leader

 

She was probably the last person her bosses expected to see at work Monday morning, but there she was.

Sarah Curl said she won’t stop her families’ routine after losing everything in a house fire Friday evening and is trying to keep it as normal as possible for her kids.

In just a weekend, the community rallied around Curl and her three children, providing them with school supplies, clothing, and living essentials to help start rebuilding their lives.

Curl humbly admitted that asking for help is difficult for her and that she’s touched by the outpouring of donations and love from the community.

Donations of clothing only can be dropped off at Pinehurst Police Department, 2493 Martin Luther King Jr Drive, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. according to Pinehurst Police Chief Fred R. Hanauer III. Clothing donations will be accepted throughout the week.

As of now, Curl said she and her children are most in need now of a few sets of scrubs, winter clothes for the upcoming cold weather and nighttime clothes. Pull-ups in size 2T or diapers in size 4 are appreciated.

Sizing for the family is as follows:

Curl is an M/L in tops, an 8 in bottoms and size 8-9 shoes.

Girl, age 6, size 7/8 clothes and size 1-2 shoes.

Boy, age 4, size 6/7 clothes and size 13 shoes.

Boy, age 2, 2T bottoms and ¾ tops, size 4 diapers or 2T pull-ups

After the outpouring of support from the community, Curl was able to get a storage unit to temporarily collect bigger donations like furniture, toys and other household essentials.

Monetary donations can be made via PayPal to slc921@gmail.com. Gift cards are also welcome as a contribution to help the family get exactly what they need as they begin to restock. One can use the email address to donate non-clothing items as well.

On Saturday, Curl posted, “Thank you, everyone, for their kind prayers. Just thank you to everyone that is gathering things for the kids and I. I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I’m speechless with all the love and help being sent my way.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Curl still didn’t have a final answer about the cause of the fire, but her personal guess is that old electrical wiring and wood-paneled walls ultimately led to the inferno.

In a Facebook post-Friday night alongside photos of her house up in flames, Curl said, “My mind cannot wrap around what’s happened, please pray for the kids and I as we make peace with that we are alive and not harmed. Things are replaceable! We aren’t!”

While things have been proven replaceable, Curl and her kids will have to get by on memories of their most sentimental items. 

She said over the last few days she’s been thinking of little things here and there, and that her daughter said she missed a Build-A-Bear she’s had almost her entire life that her parents made for her. 

Ultimately, she said, life will go on. 

Curl said she plans to get a new house for them as soon as possible, but that for now she and the children’s family have been gladly hosting them until that’s possible.

She explained that life has thrown her many hurdles but that she will continue to work hard and be the best mom she can be as she begins to rebuild their lives.