Palm Springs Woman’s Wedding Dress Burns In Fire Before Big Day
PALM SPRINGS – The community is gathering around to help one family who lost all their belongings in a recent apartment fire. One woman’s wedding dress went up in flames as she planned for her big day.
As the Andalucia Apartments in Palm Springs burned this Thanksgiving, one family was in the middle of it all.
Robert Taylor explains, “The house in between our two apartments caught on fire. The elderly gentleman fell asleep. We woke him up. He was literally on fire.”
Robert Taylor’s family lost all their belongings in the fire. His 23 year old daughter Jamilla was planning her wedding. She worked two jobs, collecting months of her tips at Starbucks to buy a $400 wedding dress, now destroyed in the fire.
Jamilla cries as she says, “Remembering everything that you had and all the plans that you had. I don’t even have a couch. It’s hard to think about wedding things. It’s almost like I’m being selfish because my family needs things.”
And now, the community is gathering to help. Robert Taylor works at Palm Springs Airport pushing wheelchairs.
His coworkers are holding fundraisers to replace the things the Taylor family lost.
Airport information booth volunteer Gary Evenson says, “Alaska Airlines is handling all the clothing and things like that. We just want to do something separate. We’re all volunteers.”
Robert Taylor adds, “Pretty awesome to live in Palm Springs because all the friends we have made at the airport and working everywhere. People just came back and helped us so much.”
We showed Jamilla’s interview to Desert Bride store in Indio, who gave a message to the bride-to-be who has lost so much.
On the phone Kristen Avon says, “I’m the manager at Desert Bride. I’ve heard your story today. I just wanted to offer you a wedding dress. I’d love for you to come down at your convenience and we’ll get you a brand new gown.”
Jamilla Taylor can now focus less on her painful past and more on her hopeful future.
“He’s the love of my life,” says Taylor of her fiance Matt, “I cannot wait to be his wife no matter if we go to Vegas and get eloped or have a huge wedding.”
If you’d like to help the Taylor family with clothes or other donations, call the Palm Springs Airport information booth “Navigators” volunteer group at 760-320-3882.
