Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Community members filled the Church of Resurrection Saturday to give support to the Patchin family, who lost their home during the June 17 flood.

HANCOCK — After the June 17 flood destroyed their Dollar Bay home, Steve and Colette Patchin were amazed at the level of community support, from setting up Gofundme sites to providing them rental housing.

But they were still taken aback when they walked into Church of the Resurrection in Hancock Sunday.

“People have been so wonderful to us since the flood that I said to Steve, ‘What more could people give?” Colette said. “Then you walk in here.

“As soon as I walked through the door, I burst into tears. How can people just keep giving more? It really is amazing.”

What she saw was a spaghetti dinner and auction, with the proceeds going to them.

It was organized by friends Renee Ozanich and Cheryl LeClaire, who knew they needed to help as soon as they heard about the damage to the Patchins’ home, part of which was cleaved away by a landslide in the early morning hours of June 17.

“They’ve touched a lot of lives in the community, so people want to help,” Ozanich said.

The first thing Steve Patchin remembered from that morning was a loud crack, as if the house had been hit by lightning, and then an explosion. With the power gone, he and Colette looked around the house with the light from their phones.

“We looked out in the living room, and all we saw was water and trees that had shot through the house,” he said. “We looked out on the road, and the whole face of our house was facing us on the road, and it pushed everything out there. It launched our wood stove across the road.”

Debris blocked the doors downstairs. Instead, they exited through a side window with their children, grabbing two dogs and a cat.

A runoff ditch between them and the Dollar Bay Fire Department had overflowed. There was another washout on the other side of the house.

“We ended up hopping in our pontoon boat and driving it through all the muck that was out there,” Steve said.

From there, the fire department drove them out to in-laws in Dollar Bay. They’ve been renting month to month from Gail Sanchez, who took a house off the market in Lake Linden when she heard of the damage.

They don’t plan to rebuild the house, which they’d lived in since 2001. It would cost between $350,000 and $400,000 to get it back to June 16 levels, even assuming the well and septic systems were in good shape.

“I think we’re going to move someplace that’s not on a flood plain and not on the side of a hill, so hopefully this never happens again,” Steve said.

As bad as the damage was, they’re thankful no one was hurt.

“Normally, we’d have sleepovers and everybody would be sleeping in that room,” Steve said. “We’re very blessed.”

They were also stunned by Saturday’s turnout, which Steve likened to the closing scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

The Michigan Technological University football team came to the dinner, while the Hancock High School football team and Dollar Bay High School’s basketball team and National Honor Society chapter helped out.

“Steve had a very big part in both of those schools, so they’ve all stepped up,” LeClaire said.

Michigan Technological University, where Steve is director of career services, provided donations through their athletic department and dining services.

“It’s been like that for a lot of the families,” Ozanich said. “We’ve got people here who have also had great losses and are here helping. The community is amazing.”