The Dery family is raising money to help with the closing costs of the Donatville gas station which burned to the ground last month.
On Dec. 16, Albert and Lucille Dery woke up to every business owners worst nightmare ó their lifeís work was up in flames.
ìIt was devastating,î said Lucille.
ìTwenty-six years and we spent more time there than we did at home and it was even more depressing to think about what was lost in there, because that was part of our home.î
Although thereís been a building there ó feed store, post office and a bulk food store ó since the 1920s, Lucille and Albert opened their incarnation of the gas station in June 1990. A few months later, their daughter Jacqueline was born.
ìShe was just about born in that building,î added Albert.
The two put their hearts and souls into the business, spending every waking minute making sure the gas station was running smoothly.
ìIt was really hard on the kids because the kids grew up there,î said Lucille. ìWe went home to sleep. Otherwise we spent all of our days there. We cooked our meals there. Ö If there was a blizzard and our road was drifted in, we spent the night in the store.î
After the building burned, they found that because of their lack of fire insurance ó the cost was too high because of the storeís distance from the fire department ó costs were piling up.
Although one credit card company did waive the fees because of the fire, other companies wanted contract cancellation costs.
ìThe credit card machine, they want $500 to close the account,î said Albert.
ìThey want us to send the machine down, but itís burnt Ö just a chunk of plastic.î
They also need to clean up the site come springtime.
ìI was just having people bug me that I should set something up,î said Jacqueline.
ìA friend of mine had done a gofundme a couple months prior. Thatís the only thing that I could think of.î
Theyíve had quite a good response raising almost $8,000 since it started in late December.
Jacqueline isnít expecting to get all of the money, sheís just happy to have some help.
ìWhatever we get will help with the closing costs,î she said. ìTheyíve got family who will help with the rest.î
Albert and Lucille arenít planning on rebuilding the store. Theyíre not quite sure what theyíre going to do with the land as of yet, but theyíve decided itís time to step back from the business.
ìThis was a big blow. A year ago, Albert lost his leg. So, itís been a really tough go,î said Lucille.
ìPeople ask if weíre going to rebuild. No. Itís time that I just concentrate on looking after Albert.î
Anyone wishing to donate to the campaign can find it at www.gofundme.com/a9ft2jjv.
