LOUISVILLE, Colo. (KDVR) — A free store for Marshall Fire victims is hoping to reunite a family with an irreplaceable memento displaced in the disaster.
In a community barely recognizable, between the rubble and burn scar, there are warm welcomes and replacement offerings at the Marshall Fire Free Store.
“Sometimes someone comes in and they find that striped shirt they used to have, they find that jacket they find that necklace,” Marshall Fire Free Store operations manager Laura Shaffer said.
Giving out completely free, mostly brand-new donations to victims, Shaffer and volunteers at the store see the importance of their newly created location.
“Little by little, we are returning smiles to people’s faces and returning dignity to their lives as they can continue to find things that mean something to them,” Shaffer said.
However, there’s now a specific family the shop wants to help — one who may not know their captured memory survived the fire.
Over the weekend, two community members came across an old picture of a couple in a bush by the Marshall Fire Free Store located at 375 McCaslin Blvd. in Louisville. They brought it into the shop in hopes that someone can help find who it belongs to.
“Immediate tears really, we just know that this might be one of the treasures that might still be in existence for perhaps someone who lost their home,” Shaffer said.
Through getting the word out, the Marshall Fire Free Store hopes to reach this family and do the same for others in the community as more discoveries emerge from the disaster.
“Thousands of people have lost their entire homes and not much remains, but when they do find something that does, it gives them hope to get through the day and get on to the next day,” Shaffer said.
Shaffer says the store is happy to be a connection for anyone who finds a memento blown away during the fire. They will hold it at their shop and share pictures on social media of the items brought in.