Community turns out for Plains family

The people of Plains and Paradise came together to help raise funds for a local family that recently lost their home to fire and is now battling the insurance company.

Horse Plains VFW Post 3596 hosted a Campbell Family Fundraiser on Saturday for Plains residents Prentiss and Nawatha Campbell, whose home was destroyed in late July. The post had a special dinner and a silent auction of nearly 30 items, raising $6,487.

"I thought it was pretty great. I find it hard to ask for help. I was just overwhelmed," said Prentiss, who was in Kalispell with Nawatha when the fire occurred. They lost everything in the fire, which started in a faulty air conditioner, said Prentiss.

His son, 16-year-old Calvin, was playing video games when he discovered the fire. He ran out the back door, but went around to the front door and ran back inside the house in an effort to save his two dogs, to no avail. He guessed that he was in the house around six seconds, but in that time he received first to fourth degree burns on 25-40% of his body and had to be flown to Seattle for medical treatment. He said he's fine now and even has a new puppy.

However, his parents are having trouble getting their insurance company to completely cover the removal of the debris, which Prentiss said is frustrating, especially when he determined that he has paid over $600,000 for insurance since buying the house in 1998. He said that Rod Stamm of Plains and others in the community have volunteered their time to help clean up and haul debris to the dump. Studs Building and Home donated the use of an excavator, said Prentiss.

"This fundraiser was quite a success," said Heather Allen, the post quartermaster and the VFW's state senior vice commander. Allen and Ron Kilbury, the Plains post commander, coordinated the four-hour event. Ray Brown of Thompson Falls served as the DJ throughout the night. Darin and Breyanna King donated their time to cook the spareribs dinner.

"They are part of our VFW family," said Kilbury. Prentiss and Nawatha work in the club's bowling alley. "They've worked for us for a lot of years and we wanted to do something for them," said Kilbury.

"When you're in a community like this, you're truly blessed. We can tell that people actually care," said Prentiss. "This was magnificent. We've been through a lot, but God is great." He hopes to start building a new house at the same site in the spring. He already has a design planned for a three bedroom house. Along with the fundraiser, the Campbells son-in-law, Phillip Legg, has set up a GoFundMe fundraising account for the family.

The silent auction alone raised $1,856.50 with a 1990 copy of "Playboy" with Donald Trump on the cover donated by Charles Oelschlager, fetching the highest bid of $160 and bought by Eric Allen's coworkers in Iraq.

The auction had 28 items from a kid's scooter that went for $20 to a pair of silver earrings that fetched $100. It was one of four jewelry items donated by the Two Heart Bar Ranch totaling $355. Rod Stamm donated four of his nature photographs, one that he custom framed in old barn wood, fetching $70. His prints totaled $235. A smoked brisket by Darin King went for $120 and his whole smoked turkey sold for $65. Victoria Westhoven donated a homemade carrot cake and a German chocolate cake that totaled $70.

The dinner alone took in almost $2,000, but the event also included $392.80 from the club's pool league, $300 from the Patty Coe and Katie family, $500 from Jim Gillibrand, $1,000 from Eric Allen's coworkers in Iraq, and $528 from a donation jar, which Allen said will be left out at the bar until the end of the year.

"It was great that they were able to be there and speak to those who came out to support them," said Heather Allen. "They were extremely grateful and emotional about how much support there was for them."