Last month an area family suffered a devastating loss due to a barn fire that occurred on their property. Ben and Angelina Hovenkamp not only lost a number of chickens and a winter’s supply of wood in the fire, but also suffered the loss of almost all the personal possessions and family memorabilia belonging to Ben’s mom, Jackie; due to the fact that all of these items were being stored there while she made the transition to take up a position as new caretaker at the NT Fall Fair facility.
Most devastating financially though was the loss of Ben’s carpentry tools and building supplies; the tools of his livelihood. They were not insured. Ben works in construction, and recently was the contractor who put in the footings for the North Thompson Agriplex.
Barriere realtor Karina Scott says, “This is a tragedy, but maybe we can help to turn it around a little bit. These are nice people who both work really hard and have three teenagers to care for.”
Scott says she has made arrangements so that anyone who would like to make a cash donation to help the Hovenkamps can drop it off either to her Royal LePage Westwin Realty office in Barriere Town Mall, or the Star/Journal office on Borthwick Ave. “I really feel we should help these guys,” said Scott.