Donations Sought for Orphaned Siblings

Officials are asking the community to help three children who were orphaned after their parents perished in a fire this week.

Separately, a church will hold a prayer session Monday to help ease concerned neighbors.

Newbury Park High School and the American Red Cross of Ventura County are accepting donations to support the children of Lee and Lenore Edson with short- and long-term needs.

The school began accepting financial donations Thursday, and the Red Cross is asking for donations to purchase food and clothing vouchers. The children, a 15- and 14-year-old boy, and a 9-year-old girl, are staying with their maternal grandparents, said Eric Nishimoto, spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“We hope people remember these kids in their thinking of giving and sharing. This is certainly the time of the year,” said sheriff’s Cmdr. Keith Parks, who serves as Thousand Oaks’ police chief. Richard Intlekofer, a counselor at the high school, said his office received about 75 phone calls Friday and a number of checks. Intlekofer encouraged people interested in offering any form of assistance to contact him.

Early Wednesday, officials responding to a Newbury Park house fire discovered an empty gasoline can and the Edsons’ charred remains in a garage office. The 38-year-old woman had been handcuffed to a fold-out bed, and her 39-year-old husband, who had pleaded guilty last month to domestic violence charges, was found lying next to her.

People wishing to donate funds, which will be handled by family members, should make checks payable to Newbury Park High School with “Edson Family Fund” in the memo section. Checks should be mailed to the school at 456 Reino Road, Newbury Park, CA 91320. For more information, contact Intlekofer at 498-3676.

People wishing to help purchase vouchers for food and clothing should send checks payable to the American Red Cross of Ventura County, P.O. Box 5850, Ventura, CA 93005. They should designate in the memo section that the money is for the Edson children. For more information, contact Chris Grigg at 339-2234, ext. 234.

Monte Vista Presbyterian Church Pastor Steve Davis will help lead a prayer session for neighbors and friends of the family at 7 p.m. Monday at the church, 3797 W. Lynn Road.

“So many people in the community are reeling in shock from the events of the past couple of days, so they wanted a chance to get together and share their feelings and pray and hopefully come to some healing and resolution,” said Cathy Iversen, Monte Vista’s director of administration.