Main St. Local Kitchen hosts fundraiser for Novar family that lost everything in explosion

The Main St. Local Kitchen is holding a fundraiser this Saturday, December 15 to raise money for one of their servers after tragedy struck her family.

Last Saturday morning, Denise Stoneman, along with her husband and nephew, were able to escape from their Novar-area home just after an explosion.

The family had been building the home for the last five years and only moved in a few weeks ago.

The explosion destroyed everything including their vehicles, all personal belongings, and even wallets and identification. Denise and her husband escaped without any major injuries but their nephew remains in SickKids due to extensive burns.

Ryan Clarke, owner and chef at Main St. Local Kitchen, is encouraging the community to come to the restaurant on Saturday where he will be donating all of the proceeds from that day to the Stoneman family.

“Our staff are our family,” said Clarke. “We want to help Denise and her family the very best that we can.”

Just hours after Clarke posted a video about the fundraiser on the Main St. Local Facebook page, it had been shared more than 300 times.

“I was born and raised here in Huntsville so it’s amazing to see such support for Denise and her family,” said Clarke. “Everyone is coming together to help.”

If you cannot come to the restaurant on Saturday, there are other ways you can help. Main St. Local Kitchen is accepting donations and gift cards for the family—you can drop by with those any time. Cheques should be made out to Dave and Denise Stoneman.

Clarke is also encouraging other local restaurants to donate food for Saturday if they want to support the family as well. “Even a couple cases of eggs will go a long way,” he said.

For information, call the restaurant at 705-789-5704.

Denise is also a postal carrier, and her Huntsville co-workers have created a GoFundMe page to support her family. You’ll find that here.

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