After a man with Down syndrome lost his movie collection when his family’s home burned down in California, kind strangers stepped in to donate hundreds of DVDs and tapes to him.
Mark Orsillo’s sister, Danielle Devine, tried to help save the movies before they had to evacuate the burning home, but with only a few minutes to leave, Danielle could only manage to save 20 out of her brother’s collection of 300 that he’s been gathering for years. Mark loves to watch movies and watched his collection religiously. The major wildfire that destroyed their home of 27 years, destroyed dozens of other homes in Oroville.
Danielle took to Facebook and asked if anyone would be kind enough to donate a video or two to help Mark restore his collection. She wrote on Facebook: “This is my brother Mark and he has Down Syndrome. He lost his house to the #wallfire on my parent’s property. He is an OCD movie collector and lost hundreds of movies. He spends most of his free time watching, organizing and talking about his movies. This is very hard for him.”
The family was overwhelmed with the response they got.
Before they knew it, package after package began to arrive and they soon had 400 films, then 600 and now Danielle says they have amassed over 1000, sent from people all over the world.
“I was really just reaching out to our community, because everyone in our community of Oroville knows Mark. He’s kind of a big personality. So I was just asking our community to help out,” she told CTV News.
Almost all the movies Mark lost in his collection have been replaced. “It’s been amazing. We are just so blessed and we are so appreciative of all the love people have been showing us.”
The family unpacked the donations and surprised Mark with them. The moment he saw the films stacked against the wall, his face lit up in joy and excitement.
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