The community of Somers continues to show support for the family who lost four children in a house fire on Tuesday night.
One local woodworker decided to use his skills to create something to benefit the family.
“It’s a little nugget of something for them to give them a little bit of hope in this really rough time,” Tim Percoski, of Somers, said.
Percoski created a “Somers Strong” ornament in the shape of a red heart. He posted the idea on his Facebook page, and it took off.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“It took off like gangbusters,” he said. “I posted it to say, 'If there’s sufficient interest, I’d be happy to make some of these ornaments.' Then, within 24 hours, there were something like 2,800 interactions people had with the one post in just a single forum.”
Percoski, who’s lived in Somers for nearly his whole life, said after the tragedy on Tuesday, he thought back to a previous project of his from the pandemic. He carved bears for residents to put in their windows for children to go on “bear hunts” and spot them while out in the community.
That’s when he got the idea to make the ornaments to show community support and strength. After posting the order link online Thursday night, he received over 500 orders by Friday afternoon.
Local
He said local businesses have even stepped up to help with the demand, donating sheets of acrylic and spray paint so he doesn’t have to spend a cent of his own money.
“Then I’ve got a bunch of angels, my children, my wife, a bunch of local friends that tie the ribbons on here,” he said. “So it’s a pretty involved process, but it’s a labor of love for sure.”
A labor of love for the community he loves. Percoski said he hopes residents will hang the ornaments in their homes year-round as a reminder of strength.
“I’m hoping they’ll hang them on their front door, their mailbox flag, or something like that,” Percoski said, “and have a constant reminder that we as a community are strong, and we can band together. That when things are good, we can be strong, and when things are really, really bad and really, really hard we can be strong.”
The ornaments are being sold for $5 and every cent will go to the town's Angel Fund for the family. They will be on sale during Friday night’s fundraiser at Joanna’s Restaurant, and can be ordered online here.
