Donations sought after Canton fire leaves 4 adults, 7 kids without their home

CANTON ‒ Donations are being requested to help a family after a fire destroyed their home on Saturday afternoon.

Samantha Marapao and her brother Behn Marapao lived in the house at 1362 Ivydale Ave. SW with their partners and their seven children. They lost four dogs and two cats in the blaze.

Kimmi Koch, who coaches two of the displaced children in softball, has started a GoFundMe account with a $7,500 goal.

She said the online fundraiser's aim is to get enough money to pay the first and last months' rent, plus a security deposit, to get the family into housing. The American Red Cross is paying for them to stay in a hotel but that will end Saturday. Koch said donations could be used to extend the hotel stay.

"The money is there for them for whatever they need," Koch said.

Koch is also collecting shoes, clothes, household items, hygiene items and school supplies. They may be left on the porch at her home at 1514 Harrisburg Road NE.

The fire occurred less than a week after two girls in the family, Aniyah, 10, and Skylah Brownfield, 16, lost their father Dustin L. Brownfield in a fatal minibike crash on Aug. 18. He was buried Monday.

Fatal accident: Canton area man dies after minibike crash in Perry Township

"It's absolutely devastating," Koch said.

She said the family has been processing a lot of emotions since the fire.

"I've seen them every day since it happened. There's times of laughter, times of tears. It's thinking back on all the memories -- holidays, birthdays that they've spent in that house. It's all gone."

Samantha and Behn inherited the home from their father Jeffrey Marapao, a native of the Philippines.

Softball community rallies behind Canton family

Aniyah and her cousin Emalynn Panko were playing softball in Plain Township when the fire occurred.

"They are not just my softball players," Koch said. "They are more like family to me. I've known them for years. They're really good people."

Koch said she first met them three to four years ago after her own daughter Anna'Lynn Koch started playing softball with Aniyah and Emalynn.

No one was home at the time of the fire, which remains under investigation, said Canton Fire Department Division Chief Steven Henderson.

One firefighter and two civilians suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

Henderson estimated the value of the loss to the structure at $104,300 and to the contents, $36,505. The house was insured.

The fire was reported at 4:24 p.m.

Koch said the help that has poured in from the community since since then "is absolutely amazing. The softball community has been amazing. (Softball) coach (Bryan) Fowler from McKinley High School has been absolutely amazing. He has helped me tremendously with lots of information and who to reach out to."

Koch said she is also grateful to softball coach Melissa Vaughn, who helped her with information, as well as the Plain Township softball league and Stark County fast pitch association.

"The family is very grateful of everything that anybody has done," she said.

"Any help is much appreciated," she wrote in the GoFundMe appeal, "but also keeping them in your prayers (is) great."

The children's clothing sizes are: women's extra large, men's medium, girl's 14/16 and 10/12, boy's 14/16 and 10/12, and toddler boy's 3. Shoe sizes are women's 10, 9.5, 3, men's 9.5, boy's 4 and 3, and toddler boy's 9.

'A tenacious young lady.' : Canton City educators remember 11-year-old killed in house fire

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Donations sought after Canton fire leaves 4 adults, 7 kids without their home