Irvine woman donates mobile home to family who lost everything in London tornado
IRVINE, Ky. (FOX 56) — The effects of the recent deadly tornado have been felt far beyond the destroyed areas. Since it touched down, people from all over have been offering a helping hand.
Brittany Kelley is a Mount Vernon native but currently lives in Irvine, neither of which are far from London, where much of the tornado's devastation is.
'It's horrible. It broke my heart. I couldn't imagine having to go through that. It's sad, very sad,' Kelley said, reflecting on the damage from the tornado.
London couple lose arms locked together during deadly tornado
She and her husband originally planned on selling a two-bed, two-bath trailer that had just been sitting in the front yard of their home. They used to live in it.
After seeing the ruins of what the tornado left in its path, she decided to donate it to a family in need, so she took to Facebook.
The post received more than 800 shares.
'I didn't want to, like, be picky and choosy, so I kind of just went down the line with whoever contacted me first and went from there,' Kelley said.
She told FOX 56 that the mobile home will go to a London woman who has four kids. As a mother of four herself, she said she knows how challenging it can be, especially when there is nowhere to call home.
Kelley said, 'I have four littles that I stay at home with 24/7. So as far as getting out there and being able to actually help with the clean-up and stuff, I'm not able to do it, but I can at least do this.'
Now, the only roadblock Kelley and the family set to get the trailer is facing is to raise enough funds to relocate the trailer from Irvine to London and make sure it has all the necessary support structures and safety features.
'I've had people offer to do it from like $300, that's no footers being poured, all the way up to like $7500,' Kelley said. 'I have the home, but I don't have that. And of course, she just lost everything, so she has nothing.'
PHOTOS: Kentucky Air National Guard conducts earthquake response training 'Exercise Grindstone'
Irvine woman donates mobile home to family who lost everything in London tornado
Bear winds up in Kentucky kitchen: How officials say it got there
Kelley set up a GoFundMe account, hoping to raise enough money to be able to properly move the mobile home.
She gave FOX 56 a tour of the mobile home and said it's definitely a fixer-upper. And although it's not much, she's glad that a family will soon have a roof over its head.
Kelley said, 'It makes my heart warm, like, I'm glad to be able to do it. If I can do it, I want to do it.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Volunteers 'devastated' at garden centre closure
Learning disabled volunteers and their families say they are "devastated" a west London community garden centre is set to be closed down. More than 4,500 have signed a petition urging the Hillingdon Council to keep the Rural Activities Garden Centre (RAGC) in Colham open. A group of learning disabled adults help maintain the garden centre, and some have attended for decades and see it as a critical part of their routine, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Hillingdon Council says the centre is making an annual loss of £137,000 a year which is being subsidised by local taxpayers and and volunteers will be offered alternative "learning and developmental opportunities". Terry, who has been volunteering at the garden centre for several years, said he had "stopped leaving the house" before he began working there. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said: "My mum got ill with dementia and I had to look after her, when she died I was suggested to come here, it's now the only place I come to. "If this place closes I won't be doing anything again, it makes me upset." Wayne, a volunteer of over 30 years at the RAGC, says he loves the work and the people he works with. His father Stuart says it is the "one thing that gives them a purpose in life". Without it, he says, many volunteers would be "stuck at home". "All of these people will be devastated," he added. "We all need this place, what it does for people, and the community it brings. We need it." Hillingdon Council says it will continue supporting volunteers by offering horticultural placements in gardens and public areas around the borough's Civic Centre in Uxbridge. The local authority says this will provide "enriched learning and developmental opportunities" and "a wider range of activities than they currently experience at the garden centre". The report on the future of the Rural Activities Garden Centre is due to be will be considered by the council's Cabinet on 26 June. Hillingdon Council said: "We are committed to ensuring all volunteers with assessed social care needs receive enriched learning and developmental opportunities. "Unfortunately, the RAGC's retail operations are not economically viable and we cannot expect residents to subsidise a loss-making garden centre." Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to London Borough of Hillingdon
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pub's wooden chalet destroyed in fire
A fire has destroyed a pub's chalet after it ripped through the building. Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the Malt Shovel Pub in Highley on Saturday at about 00:12 BST. Pictures posted on the fire service's Facebook page show firefighters extinguishing glowing red and orange wood. Three crews from Bridgnorth, Kidderminster and Cleobury Mortimer were sent to the blaze and discovered the remains of a wooden chalet, a spokesperson added. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Fire crews tackle blaze at former city pub Watch: Multiple fire crews tackle blaze at old pub Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Garden of Love' making a comeback after city's removal
Slowly but surely the garden in front of the house on Ontario Avenue in Niagara Falls is beginning to grow again. The occupants of the house — Kenneth Johnson, Justine Burger and their three children, ages 2, 4 and 15 — are now looking forward to full bloom, the time when their flowers blossom and their raspberries, corn, green beans, zucchini, bell papers, cherry and Roma tomatoes ripen to the point where they are ready to be picked. They've added a few new touches this year. Four raised garden beds were donated by the Niagara Beautification Commission. Multi-colored lights to brighten up the space at night. A wooden 'welcome' sign, donated by a friend of Burger's grandmother. Burger said she's also working on a special touch of her own, a sign that will describe the space for what it is today — a 'Garden of Love.' It's intended as a nod to the outpouring of support Johnson and Burger's household received after city workers, acting on April 21 in response to Clean Neighborhood violations, removed all remnants of the garden they grew and tended in the front yard last year. 'We're getting there,' Burger said. 'We are.' Following media reports from multiple local news outlets, including the Niagara Gazette, hundreds of people from across the city and around the region, and even a couple from other parts of the country, reached out to offer their support. Some of those same people donated money to a GoFundMe account established to help Johnson and Burger cover the fines the city charged them for the cleanup. Thanks to their generosity, the couple managed to raise the full $2,296 to pay the bill, which they said they intend to do soon. 'The community and our neighbors have been outstanding,' Burger said. 'I'm so thankful to everybody who donated money for us and for even just the words of encouragement,' she added. 'The money isn't even that big of a deal. We're working people so we would have figured it out. But just receiving words of encouragement from people we have never met in our lives, that we cannot appreciate enough.' Mayor Robert Restaino's administration, in a nine-page press release, defended the city's actions, saying they came in response to complaints about the condition of the property and that the DPW documented multiple violations of the clean neighborhood ordinance on site. The ordinance allows the city to penalize residents and property owners for failing to address various violating conditions, which can include yard waste, overgrown grass and unregistered vehicles stored on the property. In its release, the mayor's administration said that following a review it concluded that the DPW handled the matter appropriately and within enforcement actions covered under the ordinance. The administration also insisted that, at the time of the DPW crew's visit, the couple's front yard looked more like a neglected lawn full of logs and bricks than a well-tended garden. During the cleanup, crew members removed logs, painted bricks and cinder blocks from the property, including those planted into the ground along the public right-of-way, the space between the sidewalk and the street. City officials said the items posed tripping hazards and, therefore, warranted removal. In addition, during their visit to the house, city workers removed several items from the side of the house and the backyard, including a refrigerator with a door on it that city officials said posed a potential hazard to children. Burger and Johnson are confining their new garden to the area between their front porch and the sidewalk, heeding the city's advice to keep the right-of-way free from logs, bricks and plantings. The couple said Mother Nature is proving less cooperative and sunflowers planted near the street edge are growing again. 'I honestly don't know what to do with it because everything is coming back up. There's sunflowers that are straight-growing. I can't stop that,' Johnson said. Neither Mayor Restaino nor City Council Chairman Jim Perry have contacted the couple in the weeks since their story went viral. They did receive personal visits and help in fixing up the property in front of the house from several other local political figures, including Falls Councilman Donta Myles, council candidate Noah Munoz and two candidates for Niagara County Legislature, Donte Richardson and Sean Mapp. Johnson and Burger say they're trying to get past the politics of the situation and are instead focusing on making sure their garden looks good this year. 'I'm just happy that we were able to bounce back,' Johnson said. 'That's what I'm happy about.'
