A woman from Quincy is helping her former co-worker after he and his family lost their home due to the devastating wildfires in Maui, which have destroyed, according to CNN, 2,200 and claimed the lives of 99 people.
Debbie F. Weisman Clasie set up the GoFundMe to help Max Tornai, his wife Mary and their son Ollie. Clasie and Tornai worked together at Circles, a Waltham-based consumer services company, according to LinkedIn.
“I used to work with Max, but I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mary and Ollie and love watching them all together,” Clasie wrote on the GoFundMe page. “I’m grateful that they have each other through this incredibly trying time! Sadly, Max, Mary and Ollie lost their home to the fires in Maui. Thankfully, they are OK physically, but they’ve lost everything. It’s truly devastating.”
Shared on the page was a photo featuring the ruins of their home, where, as Clasie wrote, “as you can see, everything is gone.”
Clasie set up the page on Aug. 11 and has a $15,000 goal. With 128 donations made as of this writing on Tuesday, Aug. 15, the fundraiser received $13,558. Six donors gave $500, two turned in $300 and 11 donors submitted $200, among the top donors.
Commenters expressed their support for the family, chipping in donations as high as $300 in one case, $100 in others.
“Love the Circles community taking care of each other after so many years!” wrote Janet Levesque on Monday, Aug. 14. She donated $100.
Kealy Pierce, who donated $300 on Monday, said her “heart goes out to” Tornai’s wife Mary “and everyone on Maui. You are an amazing person and I know you will come out of this stronger than ever!”
At the bottom of the GoFundMe page, Clasie shared a picture of the family, captioned with: “Here’s a picture of Max, Mary, and Ollie in happier, more carefree times.”
To help Tornai and his family, head over to GoFundMe at the link found here.
