Fundraiser to benefit employees after fire destroys Centre County cabinet shop
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- A new GoFundMe campaign will benefit at least 35 G.P. Cabinets employees.
- The custom kitchen cabinet shop in Howard was destroyed following an overnight fire.
- The fundraiser has already collected at least $2,200 toward an $11,000 goal.
An online fundraiser has already collected more than $2,500 to benefit the employees of Centre County business destroyed by an overnight fire this week.
An active GoFundMe campaign is raising funds to help pay bills, provide food and cover other expenses for the families of at least 35 employees of G.P. Cabinets, a custom kitchen cabinet shop in Howard. The fundraiser, organized by company accountant Jenean Sunday, has brought in $2,535 as of Friday afternoon.
“G.P. Cabinets was more than just a workplace — it was a big part of the Howard community, providing employment for several families and creating a close-knit bond among everyone who worked there,” Sunday wrote online. “For years, we supported each other not just as coworkers, but as a family, celebrating milestones and helping one another through tough times. The sudden closure of G.P. Cabinets has left 35 of us without jobs, and the impact has rippled through our small town, touching so many lives.”
Sunday said funds collected through the campaign will help ease burdens and “provide a bit of hope” for employees and their families as they search for new work opportunities.
“Any support you can offer, whether it’s a donation or simply sharing this fundraiser, will make a real difference for these families,” Sunday wrote. “Thank you for standing with us and showing what our community can do when we come together.”
Firefighters were dispatched to the G.P. Cabinets shop at 276 Spearing St. in Howard at roughly 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, Chief Caleb Kelley told the Centre Daily Times. Roughly half of the building was on fire when crews arrived, and the blaze required an estimated 1 million gallons of water to extinguish, he said.
No one was inside the shop when the fire began. The exact cause remains under investigation, but Kelley said it may have been electrical.
The fire chief described the cabinet shop fire as perhaps the worst-case scenario for firefighters, who battled the blaze as it was fueled by a building stuffed with wood, sawdust and other flammable substances, including lacquer finish and paint. The building had a pitched roof constructed atop an older flat roof, which caused complications for crews attempting to spray water down or vent out smoke.
Owner Jim Josefik said G.P. Cabinets was set to celebrate its 12th anniversary on Friday. The company is the first business he’s owned after decades working in the manufacturing industry.
While reacting to the fire on Thursday, Josefik said he hopes to rebuild his company but will need at least six months before G.P. Cabinets could “get things moving in the right direction.”
“It was a good culture here. We gave a lot of people a second chance,” Josefik said. “People were having hard times, couldn’t get a job somewhere else and we would provide a job for them.”
You can contribute to the GoFundMe campaign by visiting gofundme.com/f/support-howard-families-after-gp-cabinets-closure.
Centre Daily Times reporter Bret Pallotto contributed to this story.
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