My close friends Steve and Karin lost their home and all their belongings to the destructive Eaton Fire. The house was located in Altadena, CA. The fire consumed the house and belongings early on January 8, 2025. They evacuated with just the clothes on their backs, a few other things, and their computers.

I'm the Ask the Builder guy. Steve is one of my closest friends. He's like the brother I never had. He does all the heavy lifting under the hood of my server.

Steve is one of the most generous friends I have. He's a glass-is-half-full guy. Karin is as sweet as southern iced tea. I can't believe all of their sentimental things are lost forever.

I'm sure you can imagine how this has upended their lives. Yes, they're alive, but losing their home and everything they owned in less than an hour's time is beyond heartbreaking.

Steve and his son are at the house now, as I type this. They're digging through the ashes trying to recover anything of value. Maybe they'll come back with a photo album with singed edges.

Your generous donation will help them buy clothes and cover housing expenses until they can develop a plan to rebuild. 

They face a daunting challenge. The permit process in southern California is fraught with red tape. They may not move back in for three years!

Let's show Steve that we can be generous too. I hope we exceed the goal by many thousands of dollars.