GRAHAM, Wash. — A devastating fire destroyed Matt Kaiser's home workshop in Graham earlier this month, but an outpouring of community support has helped him begin rebuilding.
Kaiser, owner of Kaiser Motorsports, lost everything in the Sept. 2 blaze.
"My research and development facility, a.k.a. my hobby shop at my home in Graham, burned to the ground two weeks ago while I was in Tulsa visiting my mother for my birthday," Kaiser said. "I lost everything. All of my dad's keepsakes, his diesel pusher, my race trailer, my race car, my dyno, my lift."
However, with this dark cloud came a silver lining.
A GoFundMe created by one of Kaiser's friends has raised more than $15,000. A benefit car show he was asked to be part of is also going to bring in much needed money.
Bryan Reynolds, owner of Anthem Coffee, connected with Kaiser while doing a podcast, learned about the fire and knew what he had to.
"So I said 'Man, would you ever come and be involved in a benefit car show and help you rebuild and get back on track,'" Reynolds said of the conversation he had with Kaiser. From there, Kaiser and his team got to work.
"It's pretty humbling, mind blowing, big wave of emotion today seeing all this come together," Kaiser said. "We expected, maybe 50 cars, and to have this kind of support from the community is out of this world incredible."
The benefit to include Kaiser Motorsports came together in about a week's time. Approximately 200 people entered the cars with a minimum donation of $20. As of this article being published, the final amount raised is still being tallied. There are plans to give some of the money to other local organizations and charities in need.
Reynolds said he can't take all the credit for the benefit show and this wouldn't have happened without the following: the main sponsor, Bowers Plumbing & Remodels; Catie Diaz, a local merchant and market facilitator who helped bring food trucks and vendors to the event; Jeremy McPherson & Rita Wells of Clise Properties who allowed the event to take over their parking lots at the Sunrise Medical Campus in Puyallup.
The original event was planned to celebrate the grand reopening of Anthem Coffee. Back in May, a burglary broke in twice over the course of the three days. During the second burglary, he lit a fire in the coffee shop. Reynolds reopened Anthem Coffee on September 1, a day before Kaiser's fire at his home shop
"It's a back-to-school, block party, grand reopening. We're all rising from the ashes and here we are buddy," Reynolds said.