Denver man donating RV to Camp Fire victims inspires others to give

DENVER, Colo. (KGO) -- The Thanksgiving spirit of giving hit James Faircloth early this year. It started when he and his 6-year-old daughter Luna were brainstorming what to do.

"We knew were going to be together the whole week. I was like, what are we going to do?"

They knew this year, a traditional Thanksgiving just would not do.

"The option was to stay in Denver and stuff ourselves with food and take naps and watch football. That's just what we couldn't do."

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Faircloth currently lives in Denver, but more than a decade ago resided with his family in Danville. So when he knew his community was suffering from the Camp Fire his mission began.

"I was just really moved by what was going on."

Faircloth decided to go online.

"I went to the Chico Craigslist site and saw this outpouring of need from people was like, we had to do something."

Faircloth decided to start a GoFundMe account to raise funds to buy an RV for a deserving first responder who lost his or her home in the devastating inferno. Much to his amazement, the response on GoFundMe was swift and within days the campaign surpassed its goal and now stands at just over $7500. More than enough to purchase a used 6-person Class A motorhome to drive 19 hours to Chico.

"I told my daughter what I was thinking about doing and I said do you want to do that? She said dad, yes, God and Santa Clause are going to be so proud of us!"

Hundreds of miles away little did Faircloth know, karma was at work. A chance encounter by a woman named Patricia Bittrick online while she was surfing the web looking for a way to donate an old motorhome she used for Burning Man. Bittrick, a San Francisco resident teamed up with Faircloth and have started a movement.

"It's just wonderful. I am in awe of him. I didn't want to put my face on this story but I'm doing it because it needs a face and if we can encourage other people to do this, great!"

Their participation in donating RVs to those who need it the most caught the eye of another woman in Reno, Nevada who also plans to give her old motorhome to someone who needs it.

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Faircloth is now fielding dozens upon dozens of emails from people looking to receive Patricia are fielding hundreds of emails looking to choose the perfect family to gift the RVs to.

"If we had 100 RV's it wouldn't be enough."

But maybe. Just maybe, as this father-daughter road trip to remember continues, they'll start a movement for more people to donate.

The Faircloths have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

"It's the best one we've had. And I've had 50 of them. It's been amazing."

If you have any suggestions, James can be reached at RV4campfirefamily@gmail.com

We have more stories and information on resources for the Camp Fire here.