GREENFIELD — Lori Johnson-Davis has known William Blanchard most of her life, and when fire struck his home last month, it broke her heart.
She said after he was severely burned and lost everything he owned in the two-alarm fire that destroyed his Federal Street apartment, Blanchard had to have skin grafts done and has a long road to recovery ahead of him. His pet cat also died in the fire.
“It just broke my heart — and it would for anybody — but especially somebody that you know and you feel like you need to help him get a fresh start,” Johnson-Davis said. “He’s going to have to get an apartment, he’s going to have to get clothes, he’s going to have to get a new cat, furniture, everything. You think of all the accumulation over the years of what you have and all of a sudden you have nothing … I just felt like I needed to do something.”
So Johnson-Davis is holding a spaghetti dinner benefit Friday to help him on his road to recovery.
Johnson-Davis said the benefit will feature raffles, live music and karaoke. A bank account has also been set up for anyone who can’t attend the event and wants to make a donation. Even though the benefit is on the same night as the Franklin County Fair, Johnson-Davis is hoping people can still make it, or contribute whatever they can to the bank account.
She added Blanchard, who has been released from the hospital, will attend the benefit.
“He’s just real humble and he’s very appreciative of people helping him out,” she said.
Donations can be made to: William Blanchard Fire Fund, Greenfield Cooperative Bank, 277 Federal St., Greenfield.
The spaghetti dinner benefit will be Friday from 5 to 11 p.m. at St. Kazimierz on Avenue A in Turners Falls. Tickets are available at St. Kazimierz, St. Stanislaus in Chicopee and Taylor’s Tavern in Greenfield for $8 in advance or $10 at the door. A $5 donation for the evening’s entertainment will also be welcome at the door.