JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Neighbors, school leaders and local businesses in Mandarin banded together to help a family left homeless after a house fire that killed three children and injured others.
Community members spoke about how they rallied to support the family and why helping matters, especially in times of grief.
The three children who died were 10-year-old twins Damiano and Gabriel Manati and 2-year-old Amel Manati. Damiano and Gabriel were students at Mandarin Oaks Elementary.
“They’re just the most grateful people that you ever … you ever see,” said Leigh Butterfield, principal at Mandarin Oaks Elementary, her voice breaking. “All of us just wanted to do something, do something to help, and there was not one person that turned down the call for help.”
Video shared by the school shows community members providing the family with a new home, cutting the grass and decorating the living room. Parents, former students’ families and local businesses pitched in to make the house livable.
“I did. I’m having trouble crying talking to you right now,” Butterfield said through tears when asked whether she felt emotion while helping the family. “One of my teachers said you can feel joy and grief at the same time, and this is one of those times.”
The family has moved into the new home and will have time to adjust, Butterfield said. The manager at the San Jose Country Club raised enough money to cover the family’s rent for a year, she said.
Butterfield said the fire affected the entire Mandarin community, but residents are facing the hardship together.
“We are a family,” she said. “Once a Moe Eagle, always a Moe Eagle. That is what we define ourselves as — the community you want to be a part of.”
Those who would like to contribute are asked to contact Mandarin Oaks Elementary School.
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