Military Dream Week continues as we honor two local Coast Guard members.
They thought we were there to interview them about parenting during the pandemic, but it was actually our chance to thank them for their service.
Stephanie and Paul Diedricks are long-time Coast Guard members..
When they're not busy serving the country, they're raising four young children. Their youngest, 1-year-old Sayla, was born early in the pandemic.
"I was pregnant at the time, so dealing with that stress at the time made things a little interesting, but we stuck it out, stuck together and formed a new routine," Stephanie said.
The Diedricks settled into their new normal. But life's most recent curveball forced them out of their home. While Stephanie was cleaning a mattress one day, fiberglass erupted and contaminated their home.
"Been out of the house since may 21st when this whole situation happened," Stephanie said.
"Yeah in and out of hotels, and unfortunately, our insurance company denied us all the way to the CEO level," Paul said.
It sounds like the Diedricks could use a little break. 13News Now gave the Diedricks a $500 Amazon gift card, in hopes that it would help them out during this tough time.
But that's not all: Jennifer Tracy from McDonalds had a surprise, too, as the restaurant chain donated $800 in gift cards to the family.
"Thank you so much, things like this help us get through difficult situations, you have the pandemic which affected everybody and then things like this get you on the personal angle, thank you, the support from the community, command, families, thank you," Stephanie said.
Thank you and we salute you, Stephanie and Paul Diedricks.