RUIDOSO, N.M. (KRQE) – There’s been an outpouring of support for families who’ve lost their homes and everything they owned in the fire that devastated the Ruidoso community. Like many families impacted by the South Fork fire, Ruidoso Police Officer, Ryan Munoz lost his new home. He was out of town when the fire destroyed his property.
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“Since he’s been back, he has not taken any time off to mourn,” said Kyle Klecka, one of Munoz’s best friends. “He keeps on working. He keeps on protecting and serving.”
Now, Klecka has started a GoFundMe page for Munoz and his two young children. Klecka describes Munoz as someone who would give you the shirt off their back. He also served in the United States Marine Corp and is a single father.
“It’s one of those things where people are trying to figure out how to rebuild,” Klecka said.
However, Munoz is not alone. Since the fires, GoFundMe says they have started a central hub for all fundraisers helping families in Ruidoso. As of Friday, nearly 100 different pages can be found on the hub. Nearly $400,000 has already been raised across all fundraisers aimed at supporting the Ruidoso community.
“You’ll see everything on there from people who’ve lost their homes and need money for a hotel, and people who are fundraising for new clothes because they lost everything in that wildfire,” said Communications Manager and spokesperson Melanie Standage for GoFundMe.
For those skeptical about donating money, GoFundMe says they have steps in place to verify if a GoFundMe page is authentic by confirming who the recipient is. If at any point the company has any hesitations about a recipient lying, they can stop transactions until they have confirmed that GoFundMe is legit.
“It has to be clear who the organizer is, who the beneficiary is, who they’re raising funds for, and the relationship between the two parties and then how the funds are going to be used,” Standage explained.
The Ruidoso GoFundMe central hub can be found here.
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