A woman's Facebook appeal to honour her father

Widely reported in the French media over the New Year comes a tale that is both seasonal and very telling of the times in which we live, when many are having difficulties making ends meet.

It is at the same time sad and uplifting, starting as it does with the death of a man just before the holiday period and resulting in the efforts of his daughter to pay homage to the father she lost, while also trying to help out others.

Joël Gamelin was the owner of a company which constructed and repaired boats in the western French town of La Rochelle. He had built the company up from scratch in 1983 and employed 120 people.

But at the beginning of last month it went into receivership, and on December 23 after the bank refused a credit extension to see the company into the New Year, Gamelin committed suicide.

The 55-year-old father of three left behind a note which read "please forgive me for not having been able to save the company."

Shortly before he took his life, Gamelin had expressed his frustration to the rest of his family, and as his oldest daughter, Fanny, told national radio, he had been particularly distressed by the fact that he wouldn't be able to pay his employees for the Christmas period.

"He told us he had never asked anything of anyone," she said.

"And the day he went to the bank to ask for help, he said was simply ignored," she continued.

That could well have been the end of the story - another casualty of the credit crunch, a small company faced with closure and a man, refused help and unable to deal with the consequences.

Except his daughter decided not to let the case rest there.

She set about not only paying homage to her father, but at the same time trying to ensure that the 120 employees at least had a salary coming in for Christmas.

Fanny turned to the Internet to launch an appeal for donations. She is using Facebook, and has set up a group inviting members to contribute just €1 each to raise the €200,000 necessary to pay the December salaries.

"If 200 000 people give just €1 each, that'll be enough to ensure the 120 families concerned will have an income for another month," she told prime time television news on Friday.

And already the campaign seems to be yielding results. As of Friday evening Fanny had received cheques totalling more than €1,500 and promised donations of another €500.

She has also been in touch with the local authorities to put the necessary wheels in motion to allow her to collect funds and is in the process of setting up a means by which contributions can be made online.

"Together we can act and people can survive," she writes on her Facebook message.

"And this will also permit my father who committed suicide to rest in peace."