West Doublegate benefit raises more than $18,000 for fire victims

ALBANY — A community event held Saturday to benefit the family of the West Doublegate house fire victims raised more than $18,000 in donations.

“It was unbelievable the amount of money we raised,” said Kenny Strickland, a neighbor and organizer of Saturday’s event. “We are still getting donations.”

The event began with the neighborhood children who wanted to have a lemonade stand to raise money and help the family of Alton Sanders. Sanders’ family suffered tragic loss Wednesday when a family member law enforcement officials say was mentally ill took the lives of two children and set the house on fire. That family member, the children’s grandmother, also succumbed to smoke and died at a local hospital.

The lemonade stand idea quickly grew into a community benefit and spread across social media.

“We just wanted to do something to help this family that had lost so much,” said Strickland. “We had hundreds and hundreds of people show up on Saturday. My wife and I were talking about all of our friends (who supported the benefit), and we decided it was easier to figure out who didn’t come than who did come. Right now, we have raised over $18,000. By the time it is all over, it may be over $20k. It is all because of the community, it was nothing we did.”

According to Strickland, so many people showed up that an on-duty police officer had to direct traffic.

“Some people never even got out of the car; just drove up, gave money and left,” said Strickland. “It makes us feel so good to see everybody come together to help this family. The family is overwhelmed. I talked to the dad today. He told me he didn’t think he ever wanted to live in this house again, but he did want to live in this community. We feel blessed to be a part of it.

“The Lord put us there for a reason and made it happen. Hopefully, when this family looks back, they are going to remember what our town did for them.”