Community saves home of 3 brothers after mom passes away in New Jersey
EDISON, New Jersey (WABC) -- A community in New Jersey came together to help a family after a woman's death meant her sons were in danger of losing the only home they knew.
Brandon Anderberg and his two brothers were at risk of not being able to pay the mortgage of the house Edison, until strangers stepped in to help.
"I didn't believe people were going to donate like that," Brandon said. "I was reading the comments. There were people from Las Vegas, saying 'Your story touches me.'"
Their father passed away 13 years ago, and then their mother died after a long term illness last November.
Since then, the 18-year old has been working at ShopRite to support himself and his siblings.
"She brought me and my little brother, we're adopted," he said. "And she took about $80,000 off the house to adopt me and my little brother."
The orphaned brothers have since been embraced by the Edison community, with the Parent Teacher Student Organization Co-President Melissa Ferro launching a GoFundMe page to save their home.
"I said so many people are interested, let's do a GoFundMe and try to save their home because that was in jeopardy," she said. "They were behind on the taxes, behind on the mortgage."
After a story hit one local paper, it took two days to raise more than $200,000.
"With the GoFundMe, we were able to catch them up," Ferro said. "Our next part is that we have some contractors who would be willing to fix the roof or the repairs around the house...Lots of repairs we need help with, so we have the GoFundMe still open so we can get help with that."
When asked how his mother would feel, Brandon was emotional and said that his mother would be happy.
"It would mean the world to her, it would mean everything for her," he said. "A lot of time I would be scared of what was going to happen with me and my brothers...We always wanted to make sure we had a house to live in. So with all the money people have donated, we can finally do that."
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