New Jersey teen raises money to buy headstones for friend, friend's family killed in fire

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. (WABC) -- A teenager is making sure her friend is never forgotten.

That friend was one of five family members killed in a horrific fire in South Plainfield three years ago.

The fire victims were buried in a cemetery, but the family could not afford gravestones.

So the teenager raised thousands of dollars to get them.

15-year-old Hannah Rhoads will be able to reflect quietly and with a peaceful heart now, when she visits the grave of her friend, Alize Jefferson.

February 23rd, 2012, Alize, her grandmother, and three of Alize's siblings died in a house fire in South Plainfield.

Hannah's earlier visits to the Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains were far from peaceful.

She took a picture of the five graves marked with small tin plates.

"And I didn't think it right for how they passed away. I decided that I should make that a change," Hannah Rhoads said.

With help from her mother Barbara, Hannah sold homemade chocolates and pretzels, publicizing her efforts in newspapers and on social media.

She raised $5,000 in two months. She bought headstones for Alize, her grandmother Anna, 2-year-old Elijah, 7-year-old Tyler, and 5-year-old Christopher.

"She really has a heart of gold. I could cry. (Why?) Because I'm so proud of her. We're all proud," said Barbara Rhoads, Hannah's mother.

Hannah and Alize became close friends as 6th graders at Grant School, just weeks before the fatal fire.

"Coming into class if I had a bad day, she would be like, 'what's up Hannah?' And it would just make my day," Hannah Rhoads said.

Hannah held a small ceremony hours after the headstones were placed. Some of Alize's former teachers were there, as well as some extended members of the Jefferson family.

It will make a difference for the children's mother when her emotions allow her to come visit.

Rhoads says Natalie Jefferson was comforted by the gesture.

"I don't think she will be able to come for a long time, but she was happy it was being done. It's hard for her," Barbara Rhoads said.

But when she comes, she will she the love of her daughter's friend that even in death, did not end.