logo
Non-profit lends helping hand after fire burns clothes

Non-profit lends helping hand after fire burns clothes

Yahoo25-02-2025

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — SIMDEL Children's Education Ministry is a Sioux Falls non-profit that supports educational needs of primary school students in Togo, West Africa.
The organization was planning on sending clothes there until a fire broke out in the garage they were being stored in. The clothes were a total loss, but a different non-profit has given SIMDEL some newfound hope.
Spillway replacement at Lake Alvin remains on schedule
About two weeks ago, we introduced you to Simplice and Delphine Noutsougan of SIMDEL Children's Education Ministry, not long after a structure fire at a 12-unit garage at 57th Street and Mac Arthur Lane in Sioux Falls destroyed clothes that were about a month away from being sent to Togo.
'When we went outside and we saw the garage burning, I saw Delphine kind of collapse, lay down on the floor and start crying because we thought about those children,' Simplice Noutsougan said.
The Noutsougans asked for help through a GoFundMe, which received plenty of donations. The fundraiser also caught the attention of Craig Severtson, the founder of Helping Kids Round First, a non-profit in Flandreau.
'There was a message left on GoFundMe telling them that we can probably give all the clothes you need from our warehouses because that's part of what we do,' Severtson said.
The organization sends items like food, medical equipment, sporting goods and clothes to countries in Central America, but they also serve Africa.
'There was a common connection, so it made the call easy,' Severtson said.
Severtson estimates there's somewhere between 7,000-8,000 pounds of clothes and shoes Helping Kids Round First donated. All of it will be sent to Togo.
'I don't even know how to express our joys, our happiness,' Simplice Noutsougan said.
'How this all works, you see a need and you fill it. We know what they're going through, and we've been doing it a long time,' Severtson said.
It's something that will make a big difference for children in Togo.
'What they're giving now is like 10 times of what we had before,' Simplice Noutsougan said.
SIMDEL will spend some time sorting through all the clothes and hopes to ship them by the middle of March. The non-profit also raises money for school supplies in Togo.
To learn more about the organization's work, you can attend an event SIMDEL is hosting on April 6. You can find additional information about that here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

'She is so missed' - tribute paid for Colchester woman who died unexpectedly
'She is so missed' - tribute paid for Colchester woman who died unexpectedly

Yahoo

time34 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

'She is so missed' - tribute paid for Colchester woman who died unexpectedly

A CARING daughter has paid tribute to her 'kind-hearted' mum who died unexpectedly last month amid a fundraiser to give her the 'send-off she deserves'. Pamela Diver died at her home at the age of 46 in May. Her daughter, Alishia Diver, 22, from Colchester, says Pamela was found on May 19 and had died unexpectedly, two days after she last visited her on May 17. Mother and daughter - Pamela Diver and Alishia Diver last year (Image: Alishia Diver) Alishia has paid tribute to her mum, she said: 'She was very outgoing, loud, funny, she was such a kind-hearted person, very bubbly, she would give you anything she could. 'She loved her family, she recently became a nan as I have a five-month-old daughter, she was excited to spend more time with her. 'She was such a good person, so kind-hearted and so loving. 'She is going to be so missed, and I wished she knew how much, I only had my mum, I didn't have a dad.' Gone but not forgotten - an old image of Pamela Diver (Image: Alishia Diver) Pamela previously lived in Colchester for 18 years and spent time living in Harwich, before moving to Ipswich, Suffolk, in 2011. A GoFundMe Page has been set up by family friend Lindsay Mullin to help pay for a funeral due to financial pressures. Alishia has a five-month-old newborn baby and has just moved into new home with her partner and child, she is also on maternity leave. She said: 'I'm struggling to make ends meat, I'm on maternity leave. 'It will help with the payment of the funeral, we're hoping to get it in place. Memory - Pamela and Alishia Diver many years ago (Image: Alishia Diver) Photo - an image of Pamela Diver in her 20s (Image: Alishia Diver) 'Any donations big or small will help, without putting financial pressure on. 'Life hasn't gone the way we have expected, anything donated will go towards giving her the best send-off we can and saying goodbye in the best way she deserves.' So far £800 of the £3,000 target has been raised. She said: "I am so appreciative, I didn't expect it to hit off at all, it is such hard times with the cost-of-living crisis, it has been helpful.' To donate, visit

Family's dog ‘Zeus' dragged into Florida pond by massive alligator and miraculously comes out alive: ‘I don't know how he survived'
Family's dog ‘Zeus' dragged into Florida pond by massive alligator and miraculously comes out alive: ‘I don't know how he survived'

New York Post

time11 hours ago

  • New York Post

Family's dog ‘Zeus' dragged into Florida pond by massive alligator and miraculously comes out alive: ‘I don't know how he survived'

A family dog named Zeus summoned the strength of his namesake and managed to escape the literal jaws of death when an alligator dragged him from his backyard into a nearby pond, the dog's owners said. 'The vet told us the gator had just missed his jugular — it looked like Zeus's entire head had been in the gator's mouth. The fact that he made it out alive is nothing short of a miracle,' the family wrote in a GoFundMe post. Even the vet said, ''I don't know how he survived,'' the family added. 3 Zeus, a German Shepherd who survived a gator attack, wears the cone of shame while he recovers. GoFundMe Zeus, a German Shepherd, heard a noise on the night of June 2 and scooted through his doggie door out of his home in Wesley Chapel, Fla., to investigate, the family said. In an instant, an alligator came crashing through their backyard fence, snatched Zeus and dragged him to a pond, they said. 'My dad came in frantic. I'd never seen him like that. He's a tough guy. He said, 'The alligator just took Zeus,'' Zeus' owner Susan Alkhatib told WFLA. The family watched in horror as Zeus struggled while the alligator thrashed with the German Shepherd's head in its mouth. Finally, Zeus managed to escape the beast and the alligator swam off. 3 The alligator that attacked Zeus has managed to elude trappers on the hunt for him. GoFundMe 'The alligator had just let go of Zeus,' Alkhatib told WFLA. 'We started yelling at him to come toward us. When he got closer, he got tired. So we had to kind of go into the pond a little bit to get him.' Susan's mom waded into the pond and grabbed the battered pet and they rushed him to a veterinarian hospital for an emergency surgery. After the attack, Alkhatib said they don't feel as safe at home anymore. 'We have a doggy door, and Zeus will go in and out of it whenever he wants,' Alkhatib said. 'We have it covered right now because of what happened.' The family had taken a video of the scaly culprit earlier in the day when the gator had been lurking along the banks of the water. The family told WFLA that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has sent out trappers, but so far, the guilty gator has avoided capture. 3 Zeus suffered a broken jaw and underwent surgery after an alligator attacked him and dragged him into a pond near his home in Florida. GoFundMe Meanwhile, Zeus is slowly but surely recovering, according to the family. He sustained a fractured jaw, puncture wounds, and the vet needed to manually realign his jaw and wire it together. He's on a liquid diet fed to him with a syringe until he has another surgery in about 8 weeks. He'll also need to wear a muzzle for at least another month. A picture of the recovering miracle pup shows him post-surgery with his wounds around his neck and face, with much of his fur shaved off from the surgery. 'Despite it all, Zeus continues to be such a trooper,' the family wrote in a recent update on GoFundMe. 'He's getting tons of love, snuggles, and care.'

‘Nowhere to go': Owner asks for community's help after her restaurant catches fire, closes
‘Nowhere to go': Owner asks for community's help after her restaurant catches fire, closes

Yahoo

time18 hours ago

  • Yahoo

‘Nowhere to go': Owner asks for community's help after her restaurant catches fire, closes

A Jamaican restaurant in University City is closed indefinitely after a fire significantly burned its interior. Cocoa's Jamaican Jerk was operating out of a food truck for ten years as the owner, Paula Brown, worked to open a brick-and-mortar location, she told Channel 9's Eli Brown. But on Saturday, the building caught fire, damaging much of its interior. 'It's just all gone,' Brown said. 'I'm sorry y'all. I worked hard.' The University City restaurant employed many students looking for job experience, Brown said. And much of her food went to people in need. 'When I came here, they grasped me, and they loved me, and I love them back,' she said. 'I love them back. I have so many friends here and so many associates, and that's something I've never had in my life.' READ: Hickory firefighter, 20, dies after medical emergency following overnight fire call She said she was working at Taste of Charlotte in uptown on Saturday when she got the call that a fire had started in her restaurant. The Charlotte Fire Department said the fire was accidental and likely electrical. Brand obtained surveillance footage that caught the sound of flames and the moment firefighters came running inside, but not much more. The lens was likely burned up by that point. Brown said many of the things in her restaurant that burned were handmade and some of it was sent to her from her now-deceased mother and sister. 'Coming here to Cocoa's was like coming out of my bedroom and into my living room,' she said. 'To invite people into my house and socialize and feed them and cook dinner and stuff like that. Now it's like I'm stuck in my bedroom. It's like there's nowhere to go.' She is asking for any help she can get. But she knows for sure she wants to leave behind Cocoa's as her legacy and a love letter to the city she calls home. 'I just wanted to be a part of something,' Brown said. 'In Charlotte, I felt a part of when I didn't feel a part of a lot of other things.' She told Brand that she is unsure of her next steps, but she had a big success at Taste of Charlotte, giving her some hope. Anyone who would like to help Brown and Cocoa's Jamaican Jerk can visit the Cocoa's Needs Us GoFundMe. WATCH: Hickory firefighter, 20, dies after medical emergency following overnight fire call

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store