By BRIAN DONOHUE
A Red Bank family who lost everything they owned in a December fire have been the subject of a widespread outreach effort – not just to get them on their feet, but also restore the company of a furry friend after two beloved pets perished in the blaze.
Watch the story in this redbankgreen video.
Miguel and Ximena Morales-Ramos with Toby, the latest addition to the family. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
A gofundme page is raising money to help the Morales-Ramos family, who continue to incur significant expenses as a result of the December 13 blaze. The drive was started by Circus Foodtown, where both Miguel Morales and his wife, Paula Ramos, work.
And in the days after the fire, volunteers with the Red Bank Fire Department’s Navesink Hook and Ladder company worked with Fins & Feathers on Monmouth Street to provide a new chinchilla for fifth-grader Ximena Morales.
The family spent Christmas in a hotel, but moved into a new apartment in Red Bank January 1. Toby the chinchilla arrived shortly after they moved in.
Former Red Bank Fire Department Chief Nick Ferraro said the idea to get the family a new pet came from firefighters and members of the RBFD auxiliary, who first saw Ximena upset at the loss of her pets at the scene of the fire.
“If they could try to bring any kind or form of happiness to this girl and this family, they were going to do it,” Ferraro said.
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