A father does the right thing for his family….and then loses his job. But wait, that’s not the end of the story.
On January 1, Lamar and Lindsay Austin celebrated the birth of their son, Cainan – the first baby born at Concord, New Hampshire Hospital in 2017. Unfortunately, attending the birth cost Lamar his job as a part-time security guard.
When Lamar’s story was published in the local newspaper, it was seen by former town board member and paid family leave advocate Sara Persechino, who created a GoFundMe campaign to ease the financial stresses of the family until Lamar found another job.
Since its creation, hundreds of people have donated and more than $10,000 has been raised. More importantly, multiple employers have contacted Lamar with job offers. So far he’s received at least four.
Throughout, Lamar has remained optimistic telling reporters, “Sometimes you lose something and you get something even better.”
Here’s a case in point. After reading in the local paper that Lamar was hoping to get into electrical work, Denis Beaudoin, the business manager from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Concord, offered Lamar the chance to apply for an apprenticeship.
Beaudoin lives in Pittsfield, the same town as Austin, and said electrical work might offer a more flexible and understanding environment for someone like Lamar, who has a big family and wants to devote time to it.