By Sashana Small – STAR Writer—

Billy Wilmot speaks on his phone after fire destroyed his home.—

A GoFundMe account has been created to raise funds to help rebuild the home of Anthony ‘Billy’ Wilmot.

Wilmot’s childhood home was destroyed by fire last Wednesday, after his grandchildren were in the house playing with fire. He is known for his role as ‘CC’ in the Jamaican drama, Royal Palm Estate. He is also a popular surfer.

Wilmot told THE STARthat a relative started the GoFundMe account after people started reaching out to the family wanting to help.

“A lot of people were asking how they could make a donation, and because we didn’t want to just be accepting all kinds of monies, and we were wondering how we would keep track of all the people who assisted us, and then somebody brought up the idea of the GoFundMe,” he said

BEEN TOUCHED

Four days after it was launched, the account has so far accumulated CDN$21,187 (approximately J$2,139,887) of its CDN$300,000 (approximately J$30 million) goal.

“So many people have been touched by the family, and what we represent and how we live our lives, and how we share our lives with our neighbours and friends and acquaintances. By the time the construction start everyone will be able to know how we are moving forward, and what the help has meant to the overall effort,” added Wilmot

Wilmot pointed out that this is the second time he is rebuilding his home, as it was also destroyed in Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

He said that he wants to start construction after the hurricane season, which runs from June to November.

Meanwhile, Wilmot said that the family of seven has been coping well.

“We are a resilient family. Most of the family is still OK. We have a little shed roof in a corner in the yard. We going to put up some temporary walls around it, so that myself and my wife could move in there,” he said.

Persons who want to contribute to the rebuilding effort can visit the GoFundMe account, https://www.gofundme.com/zqrz6-lost-all-to-fire