JANESVILLE — Jim Jones, a second-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Janesville, received a devastating call on Monday, Oct. 28.
In the middle the school day, he learned that his family’s home of over 20 years was on fire.
Grabbing his keys and notifying the front office, he raced out the door, recalls Carrie Mergen, an academic learning coach at Lincoln Elementary.
“He let us know everything that was going on and we were like ‘Absolutely — go,’” Mergen said. “After he was gone, we all came together to try and figure out what we could do for their family.”
“I came up with the idea to go to Walgreens and get the essentials: toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner. And $400 later, I made my way to their house to drop everything off.”
“I pull up to the house and he’s just standing there, just watching it,” smolder, after the flames had been extinguished, Mergen recalls.
“He was just standing there, in shock. They lost two cats and a dog in the fire. I was just like ‘Is this real life?’” Mergen said.