Community rallies around beloved Burke County family whose home caught fire

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — People in Burke County are coming together to help a family who lost nearly everything they own in a fire on Wednesday.

That fire heavily damaged their home, which is south of Morganton on Nunley Knolls Drive.

Alesha Sampson and her husband Daryl were at Burke United Christian Ministries Friday morning getting clothing for their family after the fire. Alesha told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty she was burning brush outside Wednesday when the flames spread to the home.

“You hear like a ‘boom’ and I just knew I had to get out,” she described.

The Sampson family is well known in their community. They own a food truck, “Taste of Philly Flavas,” and have provided free meals to first responders and people who are homeless at the Burke United Christian Ministries on Wednesdays.

Someone gave them the food truck when they moved from Philadelphia and for the last three years, they’ve tried to give back to the community.

“We started to give back to the community by having a first responders event,” Daryl said. “Giving back to the teachers, feeding the homeless on Wednesdays.”

Now, people in Morganton are trying to help the couple, along with their two boys who are 6 and 14 years old.

“To have the community support us is just like, it’s just joy,” Alesha said. “It’s exciting and very emotional.”

“We didn’t have any family down here,” Daryl said. “Seeing everyone reaching out, seeing what they can do.”

The Sampsons said they are blessed and are just glad no one was hurt. Alesha also said she was able to move the food trailer away from the home when it caught fire.

Some workers at Burke 911 plan to get some items for the family. Others are trying to find ways to get them furniture to replace what was destroyed. You can donate to a GoFundMe for the family by clicking here.

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