Plea made for housing donations

Midge Smock is hoping news of the custom chopper Steve Groene received Friday doesn’t hurt community giving toward a new home for Groene and his daughter, Shasta.

“We’re a practical kind of people in this area,” Smock said. “A lot of people are struggling.”

She said she’s worried people will see Groene’s shiny new motorcycle, valued at $80,000, and be discouraged from donating to the drive she’s spearheading to build a home for the family.

Smock is one of three administrators of a trust fund established by the Windemere Foundation to pay for Shasta’s medical, counseling and education expenses.

Groene approached her in the fall and said he was homeless, Smock said.

“They’d been living with friends,” Smock said. “I was just shocked.”

Groene and Shasta have since moved into a subsidized rental that backs up to the freeway. Smock said it’s uncomfortable for Shasta because Joseph Edward Duncan III, the man who admitted to killing three members of her family and allegedly kidnapped Shasta and her brother, stalked the family from the same freeway.

Smock said the Windemere Foundation has raised almost $12,000 toward a new home and has “about 75 percent of the house” donated through gifts of supplies and labor.

She’s currently looking at lots near Shasta’s elementary school that aren’t too close to the freeway. Smock said an additional $50,000 to $150,000 may need to be raised to purchase a lot.

If all goes as planned, Smock said, the house could be finished by July.

The home will be held in trust for Shasta until she’s 25, Smock said.

She said she hopes the community will maintain the generosity that they’ve shown so far for the sake of the 10-year-old survivor.

“This is something we have to do for Shasta,” Smock said.