SWEET VALLEY, Pa. — These past few days, home looks a lot different for Kristen Kochanski and her family.
"We've probably had 100 bags of clothing donated; people kept bringing it and bringing it and bringing it," Kristen said, sorting through donations.
Kochanski's family house on Harris Pond Road near Sweet Valley was their dream home. Kristen, her boyfriend, Dennis Ulichney, and her two kids moved in back in September.
"We look at so many different homes; we searched and searched and searched until we found this home," recalled Kochanski.
Sunday morning should have been the family's first Easter celebrated inside their new home.
"Everything was all ready, all set up for the kids and they didn't get to see it because they walked right by it. My daughter, Paisley, was very emotional. Like 'Mom, I didn't get see what the Easter bunny bought me," said Kochanski.
Instead, they woke up in the middle of the night, realizing their house was on fire, and ran to safety. The fire quickly engulfed the entire home and took more than 70,000 gallons of water to put out.
"The flames just coming up in the back of the house.. It looked like a movie," recalled Kochanski. "The kids had their pajamas, I was in pajamas, I ran out of the house in bedroom slippers."
That forever home was barely recognizable days later.
"My kids just lost everything that we ever had and worked hard for, and it just kills me. Kills me," said Kochanski.
The most important sentiments were lost in the flames.
"Everything is gone, everything I owned. My dad's urn my dad passed away; his urn was in the house still. I'm praying one day we'll find him because I was really close to my dad," said Kochanski.
It's not safe for them to return home to see if anything could be saved. Instead, the community is working to make a temporary space feel like a home.
There's been an outpouring of donations. Hundreds of them, from diapers to clothing and toys and even Easter baskets.
"I'm not used to this. I'm the one that helps, I'm the giver. I'm the one that puts my all into everything," said the mom of two.
A reminder that a home isn't just the walls that stand but a place that's created by the people who surround it.
"It's just incredible. The people the community, just came together so much, and I never could thank them enough. Because it it weren't for them, we wouldn't have anything. We wouldn't have anything," said Kochanski.
There will be a cornhole tournament fundraiser at Morgan Hills Restaurant & Golf Course Saturday, April 6th at noon. It'll be $40 a team. There will be basket raffles and a
David Blight School of Dance has set up a meal train for the family. There is also a GoFundMe for the family, and donations are still being accepted through the fundraiser.
Clothing sizes for donations in need are listed below:
Men’s XL shirt and 36/32 pants 10.5 shoes
Women’s L shirt and 10 pants 7.5-8 shoes
Youth size 10-12 Girl 5-5.5 shoes
Toddler 18-24 months Boy size 6 shoe size 4 diapers.