‘Home for Shasta’ gains momentum
Most of the labor and materials needed to build a home for Shasta Groene have been donated, and enough cash has been raised to put a down payment on a lot not far from her school.
Organizers of the “A Home for Shasta” fund drive are hoping two upcoming fundraisers will bring in the estimated $88,000 still needed to pay for the lot and other expenses.
If everything goes according to plan, 10-year-old Shasta and her father could be in their new home by July 4, according to organizer Midge Smock of the Windermere Foundation. Steve Groene and his daughter became homeless in the summer of 2006, Smock said, and have been living in a rental near Interstate 90.
Smock said it’s a less-than-ideal home for Shasta, the lone survivor of convicted killer Joseph Duncan’s attack on her family. Duncan spotted Shasta playing outside the family’s Wolf Lodge home from the same freeway, then stalked and killed her mother, 13-year-old brother and mother’s fiance in May 2005.
Smock said the generosity the community has shown toward Shasta has been overwhelming.
In the past two days, more than $2,000 in cash came in, and Smock said she’s constantly fielding calls from people wanting to donate time or supplies.
“A lady called today and offered to do the final cleaning on the home,” Smock said Wednesday.
There are two major fundraisers coming up: one at Triple Play Family Fun Park on Feb. 16 and the Shasta Fiesta dinner and auction on May 5.
Triple Play and Silverwood Theme Park are partnering for the Feb. 16 event. A number of other fundraising efforts are under way. Anyone who donates $25 to Shasta’s house fund will receive a stuffed lion or stuffed lamb wearing a tiny T-shirt reading “A Home for Shasta.”
Donors who give $50 or more toward “A Home for Shasta” will receive a T-shirt featuring artwork by Shasta.
The colorful drawing was done by Shasta for her father. She drew a house against a backdrop of treed hills. Standing outside the home with smiling faces are the loved ones whom Shasta lost: Her mother, Brenda Matthews Groene; her mother’s fiance, Mark McKenzie; and her brothers, Dylan and Slade.
Smock said Shasta’s home, which will be held in trust for her until her 25th birthday, will have three bedrooms and be about 1,500 square feet. The property is on French Gulch Road in the Fernan Elementary district, where Shasta attends school.
Duncan pleaded guilty in October to the May 2005 triple-murder and is serving a life sentence on related kidnapping charges. He is charged in federal court with crimes against Shasta and Dylan, including kidnapping both children and Dylan’s murder. Trial in the federal case is set for March 20.