‘So thankful’: Family that lost everything in wildfire gives back to Redmond community

(Updated: adding video, comments from family and gift recipient)

Blue River family pays it forward as a thank you to all who helped them

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Krystal Vaughn and her three children had just 15 minutes to evacuate their home in Blue River off Highway 126 before it was destroyed by the Holiday Farm Fire, one of several destructive blazes around the state. Left with nothing, the family was placed in Redmond, where they've been living at the Super 8 Motel since October.

Vaughn says it was the Redmond community who stepped up and helped them get through the worst year of their lives.

"I basically was on nothing, had nothing -- and they just brought food and gave gift certificates at that time -- and they gave gas cards, which was a huge help." Vaughn told NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday.

Now, the family is about to start a new chapter and is moving to the Midwest, where they can afford to buy a house. But before they leave, they wanted to thank the community for all the help.

That's why last Sunday, Vaughn and her kids went to Mo's Egg House, a Redmond restaurant, and paid it forward, the best they could.

They had received several gift cards to the restaurant as donations, which helped them get through the last year.

Since they're moving out of the state, they didn't want the remaining gift cards to go to waste.

So they handed out the $30 gift certificates to other customers, with no explanation, just as a way to pay it forward.

"Words and gestures to me just cannot express how much Redmond, Bend, Prineville -- everybody who's in those areas who ever came and donated and just their time and their stuff, their money, everything," Vaughn said. "I can't thank them enough. Literally -- because my kids wouldn't have what they do have after the fire without it."

Vaughn says they wanted to do something for random people -- the same way the community helped them as evacuees they'd never met before.

One of the restaurant's regulars was a recipient of one of the gift certificates. She says it was heartwarming to see someone who had been through so much give back.

"She was very humble, didn't tell me what happened, just said it had been the roughest year in their lives and gave me a $30 gift certificate and said, 'This is our way of trying to thank the community for helping us,'" said Toni "Grammie" Rich.

And although they're starting over in a new state, Krystal says it's hard to leave a community that took such great care of them.