After seeing their house go up in flames, 8-year-old Destini Denning and brother Jacob, 5, are starting to smile again.

The MaryD youngsters, children of Jereme and Jodi Nelson Denning, lost their home and all of their possessions one week ago.Since the blaze, the family has been staying with Jereme's parents in MaryD.Also destroyed was the adjacent house of Pete and Ida Kutash. That couple initially stayed with a close neighbor, Chris Verdier, and are now with local relatives, the Basslers.It's been a period of turmoil and uncertainty for all involved, but especially for children at an impressionable age. But on Sunday, the Dennings took a step toward healing.An estimated 300 turned out at the Tamaqua Elks to shower the family with Christmas spirit and to let the children know they're cared about and not forgotten.Spaghetti dinnerThe Denning/Nelson Spaghetti Dinner included dining in or taking out. It was organized by Angela Krapf of Coaldale to not only raise funds for the family, but provide an early holiday celebration of gift giving.Within 20 minutes after a 1 p.m. start, a long takeout line formed at the Elks first-floor dining room."I'm taking mine home because my wife's not feeling well," said Bill Schuetrumpf, Coaldale.Many area residents showed up with packages.For instance, the Dan Lang family, Hometown, presented Destini with a Nintendo Wii with Disney's "Tangled" and "Wonder World," and other goodies."We wanted to surprise her," said Lang, especially because Destini's 9th birthday is Dec. 22.Destini had planned to spend Sunday thanking others for donating clothing. In fact, she created dozens of colorful, pipe-wire bracelets and handed them out to attendees, helped by her aunt Rochelle Lazarchick of Tamaqua."Words can't express how grateful we are for having so many wonderful people in our community," Lazarchick said.Destini hoped to tell everyone "thank you" in person, and figured the bracelets were the perfect gift."I started out with 30 for my class and then made more," said Destini, surprised to see people walking into the room carrying gifts for her.While that was going on, others volunteered their time in a wide variety of jobs, such as Robert and Robin Krapf of Coaldale, who collected money at the door.Gladys Neff of Tamaqua and Tim M. Ziegler of Hometown served up drinks while volunteer Kelly Boerner of Tamaqua was busy waiting on tables even though she's recovering from major surgery.Boerner said she wouldn't think of missing the fundraiser, no matter what."I have a soft spot for kids," said Boerner, who's been operating a day care for the past 23 years.RebuildingJereme Denning and volunteers from Tuscarora Fire Company spent Sunday morning sifting through charred remnants of the house."They went to see what they could salvage," said Denning's mother-in-law, Rosalind Nelson Hosler of MaryD."They were able to get the fire box," she said. The fire-resistant safety box contained important family documents and two diamond rings that Hosler had given her daughter over the years.Aside from that, however, everything appears to be lost.Hosler said the family is indebted to local residents for all of the love shown over the past week."We're just so grateful to everyone," she said.Working at the fire scene, Denning echoed the same sentiment."We were overwhelmed," he said, of the outpouring of support from the community.At this point, the Dennings have received ample donations of clothing; there is no longer a need for garments of any kind.The family still needs household items such as drinking glasses and even toiletry items such as toothbrushes, Hosler said.Jodi Denning said last week the family would like to stay in MaryD if possible. On Sunday, her husband said much depends on their insurance company."We're still waiting to hear," he said.Until that happens, their future direction is unclear.Some 1,900 people were invited to the $8-a-plate dinner through Facebook alone, with 251 indicating plans to attend.Another event, the MaryD Fire Victims Benefit Concert, will take place 5 to 10 p.m. on Dec. 27 at Lakeside Ballroom in Barnesville.That event will feature five bands: Ricky and the Ricardos, Sterling Koch Band, The Brand, Hooligan and The Local Boys.More information is available on Facebook listed under MaryD Fire Victims Benefit.In the meantime, organizer Krapf said late Sunday that the spirit of Christmas was at the Elks building all day long."There were 300 platters sold. I can't thank everyone enough," Krapf said. "The amount of donations for the dinner and the attendance was more than I ever expected. It was such a huge success."