By Whitney Barnes
Staff Writer

A group of resourceful young people from Marshall have banded together to help a local family recover from the aftermath of an incident that left their home in shambles.

On the night of Saturday, Sept. 14, around 10:30 p.m., a teenage driver lost control of their vehicle and crashed into Frank and Kim Fontaine’s garage while trying to evade law enforcement. The crash caused significant damage to the home.

Kim and Frank, who were inside the residence at the time of the incident, reported that they did not sustain any injuries. However, Kim emphasized that the collision still significantly impacted them.

“For several weeks after the crash, we still had trouble sleeping, replaying the incident and sounds,” Kim said. “(We would get) anxious every time we heard loud noises or sirens. But knowing God was and is in control, and was the one to keep our family safe and alive that night, and has provided for us every day since the crash, has brought all of us even closer to him. … We now have a great testimony to share with others.”

Due to structural damage caused by the crash, the Fontaines must relocate to a new home. Kim mentioned that the entire foundation of their original home was now cracked, causing the house to shift several inches off its original position.

With the help of Team Valor, Gill Memorial Baptist Church’s youth group, the Fontaine family is steadily making headway in settling into their new home. Rob Kinnard, Gill Memorial Baptist Church’s youth pastor, proudly shared that the youth group started helping the family on September 22.

“… Team Valor decided we needed to help. Ben and Emma Fontaine (Kim and Frank’s children) are a part of the group,” Kinnard said. “Not only did our group want to help Ben and Emma, they wanted to help the entire family. Our youth are very mission-minded. (They) care about our community and are willing to put their ‘yes’ on the table to help wherever we are called to help.”

Kim expressed feeling blessed, loved, overwhelmed and grateful as they watched the youth group eagerly help them clean the new house, pull weeds, cut down overgrown trees, mow the yard and load the belongings that were ruined in the crash.

“It brought tears of joy to us,” Kim said. “To have our church family also come over to help, people buying pizzas and having them delivered to feed the youth while they worked, the love offering our church took up for us, all because of God’s love and his commandment to love one another.”

Kim described how Kinnard educates young people on the importance of offering their skills and talents to help others and by saying “yes” to whatever God asks of them.

“This is exactly what our youth from Gill Memorial did. They said ‘Yes’ to helping a family put out by a tragedy beyond their control to pull together and get a new home ready for us,” she said. “We get to move into our new home on Oct. 31. … We can’t wait to finally move into our new home knowing how many people helped and poured love into it for us.”

Kinnard concluded by emphasizing the positive contributions of the youth in the community, and at Gill Memorial Baptist Church. He expressed admiration for their strong work ethic and highlighted the importance of recognizing their efforts.

“We accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, and that was because of dedication, caring attitudes and hard work,” he said. “I would encourage us as parents and leaders to nurture teaching our kids to do the right thing, what it means to give to others and sharing our faith along the way.”