Soldier whose house was looted gives away money raised for him
After returning home from the front lines of Hurricane Florence, army medic Luis Ocampo found his home looted and his family’s most prized possessions taken.
After people in the community raised money for the soldier, he decided he didn’t want the money. Instead, he gave most of it away.
Ocampo, 24, told People magazine “We got more than we expected, and felt that it was our responsibility to show someone that same kindness that so many showed us.”
The army medic and his family left their Charlotte home last month when his unit from the North Carolina National Guard was called to help with hurricane relief. Ocampo spent days in New Bern, a riverfront city ravaged by the storm.
According to Ocampo’s girlfriend, Kailey Finch, the only one left at home was their dog. But on September 21, Ocampo returned home to find the back door open, and their dog running loose in the yard.
“Someone came in through our son’s bedroom window,” Finch says. “They busted the locks with a shovel, and propped open the window. The house was trashed.”
Clothes were thrown around the house, most of the houses electronics were taken, and the thieves even made off with most of the food in the fridge.
When the young couple posted about their break-in on Facebook, a friend of the couple, Mary Elise Capron, started a fundraiser.
“I have worked closely with Ocampo in the National Guard and he is an amazing soldier and person,” Capron wrote on the GoFundMe page set up for Finch and Ocampo. “I am honored to know him and cannot believe something so terrible could happen to someone so dedicated to the service, his family and school.”
In just 11 days, the fundraiser reached nearly $15,000 — surpassing Capron’s $5,000 goal. Ocampo and Finch said they were shocked to receive so much.
“It was way more than we needed,” said Finch.
The couple asked Capron to shut down donations, with Finch noting that she and Ocampo didn’t “want to abuse people’s generosity.” But still, more people wanted to donate. That’s when Ocampo and Finch decided to share the wealth.
“Other people really need help that they can’t get,” Finch says.
Ocampo and Finch are sending money to the Soldiers and Airmen Assistance Fund. The couple is also giving some of the money to a soldier who began living in a hotel after a tree fell on his house during the hurricane.
“A big part of wanting to give the donations comes from seeing how generous people have been, and I wanted to pay that back to someone else who needed help,” Ocampo says. Finch adds: “We’re very happy none of us are hurt. We are so, so grateful.”
