West Doublegate community comes together for fire victims

ALBANY — Not long after the sun came up Saturday morning, West Doublegate Drive was filled with citizens who wanted to support a group of neighborhood kids who set up a lemonade and sweets stand to help raise money for the victims of a house fire that shocked the Albany community earlier this week.

Although the fundraising efforts kicked off around 10 a.m., donations had already been pouring in for two hours as residents of Albany flocked to the area to show their support.

Kenny Strickland, one of the residents behind the effort, said people in the community were so eager to help they showed up to give at 8 a.m., and a steady stream of concerned residents continued throughout the day, taking up both sides of the street and filling the front yard of the home where the lemonade/cookie stand was set up.

On the front lines were children of various ages, holding up signs advertising what was being sold and buckets for donations, as well as working behind the counter serving cookies, donuts and ice cold lemonade in exchange for donations.

One of the kids hard hard at work was Kaylie Willis, a 12-year-old who could be seen vacillating between working the booth and collecting donations near the street. Even after overcast skies wore off and the heat became more intense, the kids’ energy remained constant, as their desire to help fueled them to keep working.

“I feel a lot better knowing I can help someone with something I did,” Kaylie said. “I’m just happy to be out here to help. It’s great to see so many people come together to help the community.”

Kids in the neighborhood felt called to action just days after a West Doublegate Drive home, adjacent to the site of the lemonade stand, caught fire early Wednesday morning, resulting in three deaths. Authorities have since reported that the blaze was started by 54-year-old Jacqueline Sanders, who later succumbed to injuries she sustained in the fire.

Prior to lighting the fire, Sanders is believed to have stabbed her 10-year-old grandson Isaiah Gates,and her 6-year-old granddaughter Zakyria Sanders, who later died as a result of those injuries. Sander’s other grandson, 7-year-old Jaylan Barr, who was not stabbed, also died as a result of the fire.

Due to the shocking nature of the incident, Strickland said it’s been hard trying to explain to the neighborhood kids what really happened. But he’s hopeful that they were able to take one very valuable lesson from it, “That through tragedy, we can always help.”

Strickland said that he sees Saturday’s event as the first step in healing for everyone.

“More than anything, we’re trying to show the family the great support they have from our community,” he said. “Hopefully, the turnout today and the money raised will help the family (and) show the family what the community’s done for them and also show the community all together that when we work together, we can overcome anything.”

In addition to community members, law enforcement, EMT, and firefighters also came out to donate and show their support in the family’s time of need.

Ricky Thompson, captain of Albany Fire and Rescue Station No. 6, said it was imperative for them to be there and show a united front.

“We just wanted to show our support for the family and the community,” he said. “This neighborhood felt it was important enough to come and raise money for this family, so we felt it was important enough to come out and support them.”

Strickland said seeing emergency personnel there after all they’d already done meant a lot.

“It’s great to see them, and we’re so appreciative of them,” Strickland said. “I’ve said before, you see these things on TV, but when you see the first responders live in action, it’s almost overwhelming.

“As I’ve said, this house was on fire with flames to the pine trees. The neighbors saw the fireman bust through the door, go to a house surely not knowing what was in there, not knowing if they would come out and not knowing what they were going to find. It just shows us, first-hand, a reminder of how important first responders are, how brave they are and really how underpaid because there’s not a price you could pay for something like that.”