Bonduel rallies around student

A family displaced by a house fire near Bonduel is feeling an outpouring of support from an extended family of sorts: the Bonduel School District.

Students, teachers and others have rallied around seventh-grader Maranda Alexander and her family since a March 5 fire forced them from their home.

Despite the ordeal, the family’s spirits have been lifted by the generosity and warmth extended from within the community.

“I thought I was just a student,” 13-year-old Maranda said. “It’s just amazing. I feel so loved and supported.”

More than $2,000 has been raised so far, making it possible for the family to stay in a hotel while working to pick up the pieces and move forward with their recovery.

The family, which was renting the house on Main Street in the town of Angelica, had no insurance to cover all the household belongings that were destroyed in the blaze.

Maranda’s father, Randall Schumacher, said although the recovery could be long and difficult, the family has been touched by the show of support among their friends and neighbors.

The family is hoping to remain in the Bonduel area.

“The people in this community — I really wouldn’t have any other people,” Schumacher said. “They really stepped up.”

The family also includes Schumacher’s fiancee, Faye Alexander, and her adult son, Chris. Schumacher also has another daughter, Erin, who visits frequently but who was not there the night of the fire.

The family had just returned from a movie theater in Shawano on March 5 when they found smoke inside the house at W2419 Main St., where they had lived for five years. Everyone got out safely, including a family cat named Tiger, but the building was heavily damaged and was rendered uninhabitable.

Among the destroyed property was a roomful of recording equipment used by Schumacher, a music producer and composer, as well as Maranda’s own musical instruments, personal computer and other valuable belongings.

Schumacher said his fiancee has been battling health problems recently, and the family was in the process of signing with a new insurance company when the fire struck.

“This couldn’t have come at a worse time,” he said.

When word of the tragedy reached Bonduel Middle School, students, teachers and staff all responded quickly to rally to the family’s side.

At a hastily called meeting, the school’s student council voted to donate $300 worth of department store gift cards so that Maranda and her family could begin replacing lost clothing and other essentials.

That was followed by numerous fundraising events, as students broke open their piggy banks and teachers opened their checkbooks to build a relief fund. A movie night event raised more than $250, and the relief fund soon had surpassed $2,000.

Teacher Lisa Sorlie said she was impressed that students, in particular, exhibited such generosity with no expectation of getting anything in return.

“There was no prize,” she said. “It was just letting them know appreciation, and it worked.”

The school includes about 190 children in sixth through eighth grade.

Another relief effort on the website gofundme.com has generated nearly $500 in donations.

Schumacher said the support has allowed the family to remain in a Shawano hotel while searching for a new home or a place to hook up their mobile home temporarily. Expressing gratitude, Schumacher said he was moved by the way his family’s tragedy brought the Bonduel community together.

“It shows that we can do things as a group,” he said. “It opens doors.”