Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Living in a small community like Meadow Vista, California, residents become a tightly knit group. When illness befell Raylin Morales and Anthony Luka, they were surprised by the outreach of support from their neighbors, organized by David and Brittany Lease and their team at Meadow Vista Ace Hardware.

David and Brittany watch for opportunities to help their neighbors, whether it's donating or participating in local events or organizing their own fundraiser events. When local student and part-time barista Raylin Morales was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma just two weeks before her high school graduation, David sprang into action organizing fundraiser activities.

"David was a huge part of my daughter Raylin's fundraising," said Jason Morales, Raylin's Dad. "He wasn't even asked to participate, and he jumped right on it."

In conjunction with the Meadow Vista Lions Club, David and the team at Ace helped organize several fundraisers for Raylin, including a Cars & BBQ Fundraiser and a cornhole tournament. They created and painted homemade cornhole boards and then auctioned them off to raise over $20,000 in donations.

"Beyond the mental anguish of a child being sick, there's a lot of financial hardship that comes into play," said David. "Obviously, there's nothing we can do about the sickness part, but hopefully we can help with the financial burden."

David and his Ace team also came to the aid of local barber Anthony Luka and his family. When Anthony was diagnosed with renal kidney failure, David helped with cooking food and raffle prizes for the fundraiser. The funds helped sustain Anthony's family through the early parts of his treatment.

"When this disease hit me, being the owner of a private shop, I didn't have the luxury of disability. I had a lot of bills," said Anthony. "I was not expecting to have a whole town show up. It was super humbling; an absolute amazing gift of life from them."

Health has been improving for both Anthony and Raylin.

"Thank you to everybody who had my back during everything," said Raylin. "I've been home and I've been healthy. And I'm in remission."

For David and Brittany, these opportunities to help their neighbors are part of their mission to strengthen the community they live in and hold dear.

"The relationships we've made, and the people we know, and the ability to be able to help people in our community is unmatched," said Brittany.