There is no question that the vast amount of work we do is joyous and nearly always brings a smile to our face. After all, what could be bad about helping people?

And yet, on a rare occasion, we are called upon to help in what can only be described as a tragedy. That was the situation one morning a few weeks ago when we opened an email from Pam Koner, founder of Family to Family, which directs its work to helping people who live in rural poverty in communities around the country.

Pam had just received a request from one of her contacts in a Navajo community in New Mexico. The story was simple but incredibly sad. During the night of January 10 a fire broke out in the home of a community member. In addition to the parents, there are 7 children between the ages of 2 and 18. Killed in the fire was a five year old daughter and seriously injured was a developmentally disabled seven year old who was airlifted to an Albuquerque hospital. In addition to housing, the family needed help with providing a proper burial for their young child. Could we help?

How could we not?