Garland community rallies around family after devastating fire

GARLAND — After a devastating fire that took the life of a father and his 9-month-old son, the community has rallied together to bring donations in the form of money and clothing items to the remaining family.

Rebecca Lewis has spearheaded collection of donations which have been coming in since the fire which occurred June 23. Last week she opened a Cash App account that allowed people to send in monetary donations, and she is also organizing a clothing donation for Rebekah Dixon and her three daughters.

Lewis said that she was friends with the family, and that her kids had worked with members of the Dixon family, so she wanted to do something for them.

“We just thought they were very close to us,” Lewis said quietly over the phone. “But I would have done that for anyone, whether I had known you or not.”

Christopher Lance Dixon and his 9-month-old son Jason Alex Dixon were killed in the blaze, which happened at their home, located at 2369 Susie Sandhill Road. The home was reportedly a complete loss. Rebekah Dixon and her three girls, Sophia, Skylar and Johanna survived the blaze.

Lewis explained that she came up with the idea for these donations once she and her husband returned from the fire scene.

“My husband, he was on the scene the day that it happened because he was on call,” Lewis said. “He was the second responding unit on call that day, and it was very tragic. I mean, nobody would ever expect that you’d be pulling a baby out of a fire like that, and it just touched me.”

She went on to say that once she got home, she told herself that she “could do this, and she could do that,” and then she immediately started putting things out on social media.

And while the clothing donations has been paused for the moment due to a lack of storage space, and Lewis has stopped the Cash App donations, she said she still has plans to continue seeking community support.

“Once they put a trailer back on the original lot, I want to plan a community house shower,” Lewis stressed.

The support from the community has not stopped with Lewis, either. She said many churches in the area holding Vacation Bible Schools are opting to give donations from VBS to the Dixon family as part of their “love offerings.”

She mentioned that Serenity Baptist Church gave their “love offering” and that once all that money was counted, they would give the family a check.

“Every year we take the money we collect at VBS and put it towards a local mission in our community. This year, let us come together and support a family in need who has lost their home and two loved ones in a devastating house fire in Garland, NC,” Serenity Baptist Church wrote in a Facebook post last Friday.

Lewis mentioned that there will be a praise and worship concert happening in August that will help the Dixon family as well.