Benjamin Johnston has started a GoFundMe for his friend after a devastating house fire in Canwoood before Christmas.
Chris Kereluk is picking up and pieces after a house he was fixing up burned down on Dec.16 and Johnston is trying to help his friend.
There were no injuries in the fire, but Johnston said it’s been demoralizing.
“I just felt really bad for the guy because I know when he bought the place he was kind of excited about the opportunity,” Johnston explained. “He got a fixer upper and was going to like redo some flooring and putting some new energy efficient windows and stuff like that.”
Kereluk also planned to have his son help with the house to learn about common construction disciplines like putting in flooring and windows.
Johnston started a GoFundMe for Kereluk after the fire. He is having trouble getting traction because of a number of factors. He said the main problem was the lack of information.
“A lot of people think I’m a scammer,” he said. “A lot of people thought that there was no coverage about it, even if you type in on Google, so a lot of people thought I was just a scammer trying to take advantage of people.
“I kind of felt frustrated,” he added. “People who know me know I’m not that type of person that’s out there to ruin anyone’s day or deceive people. I had a couple of posts I tried putting on PA sites and they were getting removed.
He said that some comments showed people had not heard of this fire in Canwood. Since then, another Canwood resident has started posting photos online.
Johnston said that he is not a big social media person but the posts getting removed was frustrating.
“I’m at that age where I’m not huge on social media,” he explained. “I have the stuff, but if you message me on Facebook, I might get back to you in a day, I might get back to you in a week. I’m not the kind of person that’s like, I’ll get back to you in 25 minutes.”
Johnston said he is a father and travels a lot for work, so he does not keep much social media presence.
“The Google search is kind of what hit me,” he said. “It’s like, well, why can’t I even find anything about it online…. It makes me look like a scammer.”
Johnston said Kereluk was also charged $2,500 for the call by the Canwood Fire Department. Kereluk is not sure why but there could be several factors.
“I don’t know the … rules on that end of stuff but it seems like his fees aren’t covered like mine in the RM of Buckland would be.” he said.
A photo after the fire in Canwood that Benjamin Johnston has started a GoFundMe for.
The Village of Canwood was contacted by the Daily Herald and clarified that it is the policy to charge for fire calls.
Kereluk is having problems with the aftermath of the fire, according to Johnston.
“He’s struggling. He recently sold his car. His truck got stolen about a week before.
I don’t know where they’re at with that and he’s selling his snowmobile because he needs some money,” Johnston said.
Johnston said that Kereluk spent a good amount of money on the property in Canwood as a fixer upper property,
“Eventually, the goal, I believe, was to gift it to his son on graduation from high school so his son could kind of have a head start in life,” Johnston said.
“My buddy was hoping to have a house for his kid that he didn’t have to pay a bunch of interest on and the house would have been paid and taken care of because generational wealth seems to be the only way to get ahead a lot of time,” he added.
Johnston said Kereluk had also not yet put homeowner’s insurance on the property.
According to the GoFundMe Kereluk is a single dad to two children, and was very proud of this investment to teach his children real world stuff about upgrading homes for energy efficiency and about passive income that standard education doesn’t teach.
“Anything is greatly appreciated so they can get back to normal and stop stressing about this catastrophe right before Christmas. Even just a share or a prayer to get it out there,” the GoFundMe said.
“He is now the homeowner of a pile of ashes and would be grateful for anything, even a prayer is welcomed if funds can’t be sent as we all know the struggle at Christmas.”
As of Dec. 28, the GoFundMe has raised $450 out of the $7,000 goal.
