A local family was able to get a helping hand from Academy Sports + Outdoors Wednesday morning after they lost their home to a fire just five days ago.
The incident happened in the early morning hours of Friday, August 4. A man had been driving a SUV south in the 200 block of Redbud Avenue when he lost control of his vehicle and hit a curb. The SUV flipped onto its side and crashed into a parked vehicle in the driveway. The collision caused both cars to go up in flames and spread to the home.
The Osby family was able to get out of the house unharmed, but their home suffered extensive damage. Kecia Osby said the only thing salvageable was her seven-year-old daughter’s bike.
Despite the devastating loss, Osby shared that the community’s overwhelming support has given her and her family hope. She recently received a call that someone from Academy Sports + Outdoors wanted to help her family, and invited her to come to the store on Wednesday morning.
When they arrived, they were given gift cards from the store to help them with some of their back-to-school needs. Also that same morning, Academy had given 30 local children from the Lubbock Boys and Girls club gift cards for a back-to-school shopping spree as well.
“We were able to quickly rally behind them and get them involved in this event today,” said Tori Apel, store director of the Academy located at 114th street and Quaker. “Each of these kids is going to get 100 gift card as well, and then we’re going to give a 250 gift card as well for the mother for any additional things she’s going to need to get the kids back to school.”
Osby and her children were able to spend the morning shopping for clothes, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes and other supplies. Her two young daughters will be entering the second and seventh grade and says the extra help is a huge relief.
“You’d be surprised how people step up for you when things like this happen. Initially, I went through the whole panic of how do I fix everything how do I get it all back especially as far as the girls are concerned, but I’ve had a lot of people step in and already started replacing things and helping us out and like I said I’m beyond grateful.”
If you want to help the Osby family, you’re encouraged to visit their GoFundMe page here.
