This story starts off pretty depressing but one family and this Cedar Rapids community are trying to help give it a positive ending. Last Tuesday, a house on 4th Avenue SE caught on fire and left a home completely destroyed.


Thankfully the mom, dad, and newborn baby were able to get out of the house safely but I would assume they were devastated with what happened to their home. Thankfully they have neighbors who are doing their best to help in whatever way they can.

The family who lives next door wanted to try and help by collecting any donations they can. KCRG spoke with the neighbors, Caitlin Bickford, and her mother Jessica Lipscomb. They've opened their porch door where community members can stop by and drop off whatever they can. It's reached close to 15 people every day since the fire happened.

Caitlin said "I knew the first couple of weeks were going to be challenging" and Jessica added, "we just wanted to make sure that they had some immediate necessities and some immediate help."

Neighbors have been bringing over essential items such as water, snacks, baby formula, and diapers, according to KCRG. This is what Iowa nice is all about. We've heard countless stories about a baby formula shortage and for this Cedar Rapids family to not have to worry about that, at least for now, has to be heartwarming.

There has been a GoFundMe page set up for the family, which is just over $6,600 at the time of writing. We often hear about sad news stories and everything going on in the world but I've always appreciated finding stories where Iowa nice is put into full effect.

Jessica said it best when she told KCRG

At the end of the day, I think people are genuinely kind and willing to help each other. This makes people realize all the good in our community

In the interview with KCRG Caitlin mentions how her neighbors kept to themselves and they didn't really know them well. I have a feeling they'll be getting to know each other a lot better pretty soon.

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