LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The community is coming together to offer a helping hand after a Louisville Metro Police officer and her family lost everything when their home was destroyed in a fire.

Officer Shanequa Boone was on vacation with her twin sons when she got the call that their apartment had been destroyed. It happened two weeks ago at the La Fontenay Apartments on Shelbyville Road in Middletown.

"It's a complete tragedy, you know? It was a complete loss," Officer DeAris Hoard said. "Everything that she owned was lost."

Hoard, one of the officers who responded to the fire, is Boone's beat partner.

"We kind of worked collectively to salvage the things that we could in order to secure them," he said. "... a lot of her police equipment for when she got back."

While Hoard and Boone ride the beat together in the 4th Division, they're also friends. 

"I was one of the first people she reached out to," he said.

When Boone and her sons returned from vacation, all they had were the clothes they had with them.

"She came back to nothing," Hoard said. "Her door had to be forced open in order to put out the fire."

Rebecca Grignon-Reker, who works with the Metro Police Foundation, said donations are being collected to help Boone and her family recover from the devastating loss.

"I thought it was very tragic," Grignon-Reker said. "Here's an officer taking some much-needed time out and going out with her children for a vacation and she comes back and her apartment has caught fire and she's lost everything." 

Grignon-Reker said 100% of the donations the organization receives will go to Boone and her family recover.

"We've already raised over $5,000 on Facebook to help her out," she said. "We can also take donations through our Venmo."

As of 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, nearly $9,000 had been raised on Facebook. 

"She's already back at work. She's already back on the street," Grignon-Reker said. "And the foundation exists to take catastrophes like this when it happens and to take the burden off the officer."

Hoard said while his beat partner is still devastated by the loss, she's still hopeful.

"For us, we typically deal with crises every day. That's our job," he said. "For us to be on the receiving end of that crisis and then now to see the community reaching out and supporting us in this manner is just, it's overwhelming and it really humanizes the relationship we have with the community."

The Metro Police Foundation is hoping to raise at least $20,000 for Boone and her family to help them rebuild their lives. Donations can be sent via Venmo to @LouisvilleMetro-PoliceFoundati or online by clicking here. If using the website, the foundation said to select "Officer in Distress" and put in "Officer Shanequa Boone." You can also donate directly on Facebook by clicking here. Gift cards are also being collected. Those, along with monetary donations, can be dropped off at LMPD Division headquarters. To find one near you, click here.

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