Little Rock, Arkansas – After a fire on Saturday, September 23, a Little Rock public charter school teacher lost her house. However, staff and students at eStem Junior High School (Downtown) are working to ensure that the teacher and her family are not forgotten.
The fire destroyed everything belonging to Megan Benson, the eStem science instructor, and her family, including their automobile and cherished pet cat, Coco.
It was June, Benson’s daughter, who ignited the fire, according to her.
In order to get away, June had to clamber onto the AC unit and pop out the screen that was attached to her window.
Benson reported that her family managed to escape the fire with the help of her daughter.
Benson stated that the fire began at about two in the morning, but no information was available regarding how it began.
After the fire, Daniel Hamilton, a friend of the Bensons and teacher at eStem Junior High (Downtown), set up a GoFundMe for the family.
“Mrs. Benson is kind of one of our main pillars of our community here (eStem),” said Hamilton.
“They are good people and they just hit an unfortunate snag and I just want to be able to help out,” said Hamilton.
The Bensons received financial and wardrobe donations from two of June Benson’s closest friends.
“I brought stuff Monday morning to the front office to donate to them: like anything I could find around the house especially stuff I knew June would like,” said a friend.
“Anything I could give to make them feel more comfortable or more happy or to help them adjust I would give,” said Kendal Thomas, another one of June’s friends.
According to Benson, they appreciate all of the community’s help at this difficult time.
Over $12,000 had been raised through the GoFundMe as of Thursday morning.