Image Credit: GOFUNDME
August 20, 2021 - 4:20 PM
A West Kelowna elementary school teacher has lost her home and all of her possessions due to wildfire.
Callie Patton and Catharine Marrs started a GoFundMe last night for Shannondee Rigby, a teacher at George Pringle Elementary and Glenrosa Elementary, according to the online fundraiser.
Her mom is a teacher so she knows Rigby well, Patton said. While she wasn’t a student of Rigby's, she would visit her in her classroom when her older brother attended school.
Earlier this week, officials confirmed one home was lost in the 800 hectare wildfire.
READ MORE: Mount Law wildfire slowly creeping towards Okanagan Connector
The fundraiser has already raised nearly $8,000 out of its $15,000 goal.
She’s a popular teacher but Patton didn’t think so much would be raised in such a short amount of time.
“It’s really exciting,” she said.
Rigby's husband died earlier this year and his possessions were lost in the fire, Patton said.
Her mother is also living with her since her mother is also terminally ill, she said.
Right now, Rigby is living in a motorhome but is hoping to find a furnished home in the West Kelowna area.
Patton said she does have some insurance but her possessions were lost in the fire.
“She’s a teacher so she has other teacher resources that she lost, so it wasn’t just her possessions,” Patton said.
This is also the second time Rigby has lost her home due to fire.
“We are asking for financial assistance to help her in the same way she has helped so many others,” Patton wrote in the GoFundMe.
The fundraiser can be found online.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2021