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PEA RIDGE, AR (KFSM) — The Pea Ridge Café is raising money for a local family injured in a massive home explosion just a few miles up the road in Washburn, Missouri.
The McDonald family of five were at home with two friends when their home exploded on Wednesday (Nov. 4) morning. The family drove across the Missouri/Arkansas to Pea Ridge to get help. All five members of the family were admitted to hospitals, two in Springdale and three in Missouri. The father and oldest daughter, Kadense McDonald, have since been released. The mother, younger daughter, and son are still admitted to a Missouri hospital with serious injuries.
Meagan Schmidt works with Kadense McDonald at the Pea Ridge Café. As soon as Schmidt found out what happened, she knew she needed to do something to help.
“She is such a sweet girl and knowing the loss her family is going through just breaks my heart,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt placed a donation jar at the Pea Ridge Cafe and is working with other local businesses to place ones in other locations. The cafe is holding a fundraising event all-day long on November 10th. All proceeds collected between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. that day will go straight to the McDonald family to help pay for medical bills, food, travel to the hospital, and other expenses.
“It’s great,” Schmidt said. “You get your food, and your cost goes to them. I mean, it’s a win-win for the family to be able to take some of that burden off of them.”
A GoFundMe has also been created for the family.
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