SANDERSVILLE, Ga. — People are coming together to help out survivors of a deadly apartment fire who lost everything. It happened in Sandersville Saturday morning.
Carolyn Gladdin was one of the people who lost a place to call home. She lost one of her cars and everything inside.
Gladdin has been an employee at Jet Food Store for 20 years. Currently, she's the deli manager and is always ready to work and comes in at 3:30 a.m.
Her manager, James Brown, says she does a great job and is a hard worker.
Gladding helps serve food to hungry customers and does it with a smile. Now, they're here for her, after getting terrible news.
"When I got to work, maybe about an hour, hour and a half, my daughter called me and said my house on fire," Gladdin said.
According to Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran, fire crews were called to the apartment just before 5 a.m. Crews battled the fire for two hours before getting it under control.
David Ingram lived at the apartment for four years. He lost his girlfriend, Temorie Hill.
"It's a hard feeling though. I just ain't really cried yet but it's going to hit me," Ingram said.
Ingram said Hill went back inside to grab her purse. He and others tried to go in and get Hill but couldn't. He says people have given him clothes and a place to stay.
Everything at the apartment was melted, turned to ash and black. Gladdin had a Jeep parked out in front of her apartment but it caught fire too. But she wasn't worried about her belongings.
"I said Lord, please save us, save us, save whoever in there, get them out, get them out," Gladdin said.
However, others thought of her situation and wanted to help. Her coworkers and boss came together and started a fundraiser for her.
"We've came up with a QR code that's on the counter up here at the deli with her story," Brown said.
The flyers are posted on the counters at check out and in the deli section where Gladdin works. On the flyer is a paragraph about her dedication to the job and the monetary request. She says she's grateful for the support.
"I felt happy that someone else cares about other people than themselves. And Jet they're really a good family," Gladdin said.
Brown says doing this fundraiser was the right thing to do.
"She's a very dedicated employee. Our hearts go out to everybody that was involved in the fire and we're just trying to do the best we can to show how we can help her," Brown said.
They are directing people to Gladdin's Cash App, $CarolynGladdin, to help her pick up the pieces after the fire this weekend.