The dive community.
Today’s article will be a little different than usual. I want to discuss the dive community. Sometimes we take it for granted that the diving community is just a bunch of folks who care only about diving, to a small extent that’s true but it is more like a community of folks who also care for the environment, safety, and each other.
It’s the last one I want to talk about today. I got a call early Friday morning from my assistant manager of the dive shop whowas on his way to the shop and he got a call from his grandfather that smoke was coming from the eaves of his home and he needed to come back home now. By the time he arrived home it was fully engulfed in flames. He tried to get inside but it was too late. Within 20 minutes his home was burned to the ground. Everything he had including his two cats were gone in a matter of minutes, all he had were the clothes on his back. It was a tragic loss.
The unfortunate thing is he could not get any homeowners insurance because the mobile home was built in the early ‘80s and no one would insure it. It was his grandmother’s house that he came to live there and take care of it. It has been there since the ‘80s and his family used it when he was a young child.
When he called me to tell me about what happened I immediately started to make phone calls to several folks in our diving community. I was able to get him some personal stuff as well as some more clothes to take to him. I saw the destruction when I got there later to drop off some clothes and toiletries – it was horrible to see such destruction that happened so quickly.
I spent all Saturday making phone calls to folks to see what can be done to help him. I called the church that I attend and they got the word out to our folks, my dive master set up a GoFundMe page to try to help out and a lot of our fellow divers have given to it.
He will be staying with his other grandparents in their camper until we can figure out what the next steps need to be. People have been bringing clothes to the shop even though we don’t open until Tuesday morning.
I would personally like to thank all the divers that have given to this cause. That why I always have referred to this as a community that has been building here in Wakulla and the surrounding counties.
-Russell Miller #59999