A fire just before Christmas destroyed the home of Maple Lake High School Gymnastics Coach Kris Kitzman and to support their coach, the Irish gymnastics team made an effort to play Santa for the Kitzman’s five girls.
Kitzman, a truck driver who owns and operates his own rig, said he was working on his truck in the garage of his Big Lake area home at about 6:30 p.m. on December 23 when a trouble light ignited some spilled gas. “It exploded and just kept on going because of all the other stuff in the garage,” he said.
No one was injured, but the home was a total loss and the Kitzman family is staying at his parent’s home in Dayton. Kitzman and his wife, Kelli, have five young daughters: Kalee, 6; Kadee, 5; Kacee, almost 4; Kamee, almost 3; and Karee, 1.
“They’re all fine,” Kitzman said. “The oldest is the only one able to realize a little of what’s going on. They just think we’re having a really long Christmas.”
Destroyed, along with the rest of the family’s belongings, were Christmas gifts for the Kitzman’s five girls. When Irish co-captain Kaitlyn Mooney heard about the disaster on Christmas Eve, she called assistant Coach Nicole Ross and arranged to use a team fund designated for special needs to purchase gifts for the Kitzmans.
“When I heard about it, I cried,” Mooney said. “He’s one of the nicest guys I know and this has to happen to his family.”
A shopping trip by Mooney on the day after Christmas produced an assortment of toys for the Kitzman girls and gift cards for Kris and Kelli. And the gifts were presented by the team to their coach when they gathered for practice at the school on December 27.
“He does a lot for our team and we had to do something for him,” Mooney said.
Kitzman said he has been amazed at such gestures of kindness and generosity that have occurred since the night of the fire.
“I can believe the amount of donations from friends, neighbors and the community,” he said. “ We now have four times the clothes and toys that we had before. We’ve had at least six people offer houses and a guy walked up to me and offered by the keys to his Expedition. He said, ‘Here, you need it more than me.’
“To me, this has just been incredible.”
A fund at Preferred Bank in Big Lake has been set up to cover the other expenses the Kitzman’s may incur as they work to rebuild their home. Donations can be sent to the Kitzman Family Fund, Preferred Bank, P.O. Box 340, Big Lake, MN 55309. Anyone with questions can call the bank at 763-427-4350 and ask for Karen.
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