Community comes together

GRANTSBORO - Harbor Sounds' guitarists picking and singing and a contribution jar jingling greeted more than 150 people at a benefit on Sunday for a local family in its hour of need.

They came to the Pamlico County Moose Lodge to give and they got a smorgasbord of down home cooking and music and a first-class feeling about people.

Just past the foyer were coolers of huge Pamlico County fresh caught shrimp, part of a line of silent auction items. The contributions began earlier in the week to help Mandie Sosebee and her three boys who just lost a husband and father in an automobile accident.

There was ham on the buffet and Iris Cowell even slipped in some green eggs from her exotic chicken collection for the silent auction.

The flood of help from Pamlico County people on Sunday - and since a Thursday Sun Journal story appeared about their plight - showed an outpouring of generosity.

"It is very heartwarming to see that so many people care," said Mandie. "I am very touched by the outpouring of calls, cards, donations and prayers."

Robert Sosebee, Mandie's husband and the father of their three boys Jarrett, 10, Tyler, 7, and Brice, 2, was killed in College Station, Tex., in July.

They have come back to the area to live with Robert's mother, Pam Sosebee, in New Bern.

Pam was with her on Sunday and said "it's amazing" how supportive the community is being.

Mandie is a Pamlico County native and member of Stonewall United Methodist Church whose members, led by Anne Smithwick and Tammy LeBrun, organized the event.

Everything was donated, Smithwick said, including use of the Moose Lodge, beverages from Pepsi of New Bern, some food from Piggly Wiggly in addition to the covered dishes people brought and a table full of gifts donated by merchants and individuals for the silent auction.

Smithwick said those helping are from all over the area, not just Stonewall. "The whole community has come together. It has been uplifting."

LeBrun said the proceeds, which totaled about $1,300 before the fundraiser, are in a Robert Sosebee Fund at First South Bank in Alliance.

"People can also make deposits right into that account," she said.

Mandie, who formerly worked in accounting but is considering going back to school for the education, said she thinks she'll need to support her family.

"I don't know what tomorrow is for me yet but I know the Lord will lead me in the right direction," she said.

"Robert and I had a wonderful relationship that so many people don't ever have a chance to know. I may go back to school and study in the psychology field. I may get into counseling," she said.

"Right now, I'm going to take it one day at a time."