DURHAM -- It wasn't just a house to the Meek family, but a home. 

Every birthday, holiday, party, or any other occasion was held on Split Rail Place in Durham before the home went up in flames on Tuesday.

And not only did David and Cathy Meek lose all their belongings, their dog Maya didn't make it out alive.

Cathy explains that Maya was older and expired in the fire. She says firefighters buried the remains for the family.

"We will recover from this and start over," says Cathy.

Even with all the loss, they're seeing an outpouring of kindness from the community in Durham and from friends back in Ohio.

The love shown here may be due to their daughters efforts around the area, helping Durham schools get back on track with their student lunch debt.

Rebekah Miel launched a GoFundMe page back in November to help pay off portions of the debt, now raising more than $60,000. 

Her mission of giving back continues this time to her own parents in the form of a youcaring.com page and the community she helped is returning the favor to her family.

"It’s a strange thing to have already been fundraising about something else and then not even a month later all of a sudden be fundraising for my parents but the community response again has been overwhelming and I’m really grateful for that," says Miel.

Her parents are grateful too.

Her father David Meek believes, "You have to look forward, you can't look back. I mean you look back at the memories but you just have to keep your head up."

The Meek family plan to rebuild. 

The cause of the fire is unknown.

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