BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Coloradans continue to find unique ways to help those who lost everything in the Marshall Fire. One group is focusing on giving the children a new sense of hope.
The group is called “Hope Lives Here – Colorado,” and they are helping the youngest of the Marshall Fire victims make their temporary houses into homes. Their mission is to re-do and re-decorate bedrooms for these kids. And they add some very special touches.
“I’m just trying to make it as special as we possibly can,” founder Lindsay McMorran said. She said it’s like “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
“We actually kick them out of the house and our team comes in and we fully furnish the rooms, decorate, we’ve got our steamer to make sure the curtains and everything are perfect,” McMorran said.
McMorran knows how sacred a child’s bedroom is. Her family survived two wildfires in California before moving to Colorado.
“They’re always going to remember when their house burned down, but I wanted them to also be able to look back and remember the day they got a brand new bedroom and the community came together, people they didn’t even know. They showed love for them and created this amazing space,” she said.
She started this group on Facebook, posting the stories and needs of impacted families. People from around the world responded, quickly buying everything on the kids’ wish lists — and more.
“There’s a little girl who lost all of her geodes and rock collection. I have geodes coming in from New York, all over the country. I mean, her room might look like a museum. I don’t know. We’ll see!” McMorran said.
Then a firefighter came to her with an idea.
“I got a message for a donation letter. It turns out she’s a firefighter and was one of the firefighters on the fires. Her crew was on the fires. That one got me. I started crying. They wanted to be part of it. I was like, full circle. I mean we can have Batman and Spiderman. But to have firefighters there, those are true heroes that worked as hard as they could. To have them come back, it’s just amazing. They’re trying to get each station to sponsor a room. We will send the wish list directly to them. They’ll purchase everything and will actually be our assembly crew, and be there,” McMorran said.
The effort has taken on a life of its own and has come full circle, with the first reveals in the books. And it’s been emotional for everyone involved.
“It was super hard to not just start bawling because you could feel how happy they were to have their toys and a bed,” McMorran said.
They have furnished 22 rooms already, and they have dozens more in the works.
“Whatever we can do to keep this going. There’s a lot of families that still need our help,” she said. “I’m determined to help every kiddo out there.”