BENNETT, Colo. — The winds this week were whipping in Bennett, but not nearly as bad as on May 18, 2025, when tornadoes ripped through Adams County.
One hit Vikki Katchen's property, leaving her family with piles of debris where their home used to be.
"It's overwhelming. It's devastating — all of the damage," she told Denver7 at the time.
Denver7 viewers jumped into action and less than 24 hours later, Denver7 Gives donations helped replace her chicken coop that was destroyed in the storms.
"It feels really good, thank you. The chickens thank you too," she said.
In the following weeks, Denver7 Gives funds were also used to rent massive dumpsters to haul away debris.
"It's wonderful because without my Denver7 viewers, we would still be standing around going, 'What are we going to do with all this?' Because we couldn't get dumpsters out here, and if we could, it was $800 for each dumpster," Katchen said at the time.
And now nearly a year later, the Katchens are close to the finish line.
"We want to move back in our house and, you know, start our life over again," she said.
They've been chipping away at repairs for months. One of the final pieces is getting a new floor.
"We've never done vinyl planking, so that's where we found Devin," she said.
Devin Melanson is a flooring expert, owner of Melanson Custom LLC.
His neighbor told him about the Katchens.
"I heard what happened to the house, so I was like, 'OK, I can definitely help out,'" he said.
He even gave her a discount. Denver7 Gives funds covered the cost.
"Thank you very much. I can't thank you enough," Katchen said. "This is going to be tremendous, because we were really stressing on doing this floor."
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