RIPPLEMEAD - A pickle jar one-quarter full of dollar bills sat on the counter of M&W Market in Pembroke early Tuesday evening.

The money jar is a collection for the Bryants, an Eggleston family who lost six of their nine children in a horrific explosion at a relative's home in Michigan on Saturday evening. Since news of the tragedy arrived in this Giles County community, people have walked into this store stunned with grief, said Rachel Smith, who works behind the counter at M&W.

"Every time someone comes in here it's 'Did you hear about those six kids?' or 'I knew those six kids,'" Smith said.

Joyce Bryant and eight of her nine children had traveled to Caledonia Township, a rural section of Michigan about 90 miles northwest of Detroit, to visit family over the Labor Day weekend. Her husband, Mark, a Blacksburg accountant, and their daughter Kameron had planned to meet them in Michigan on Sunday.

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When the explosion occurred Saturday evening, Joyce Bryant and her sister were at a third sister's home.

Rebekah, 19, Joseph, 10, Nehemiah, 9, Martina, 7, David, 4, and Jackson, 2, died in the blast, which family members said they believe was caused by an ignited gas leak.

Fourteen-year-old Caleb, 6-year-old Sarah, and an 18-year-old Michigan man survived the explosion and were airlifted to Hurley Medical Center.

On Tuesday evening, Ward Harris, a youth minister at Riverview Baptist Church in Ripplemead, which the Bryants attend, said that Caleb and Sarah still are listed in critical condition, but are improving.

Shiawassee County Sheriff Jon Wilson said that investigators will not be able to determine what caused the explosion that demolished the home until the end of the week at the soonest. But Wilson said he is reasonably certain it was accidental.

Wilson said the wreckage left by the violent explosion was like nothing he has ever seen.

"If you find a third of a piece of plywood out there, you have found a big piece of building material," he said.

Since Sunday, many people have stopped by Riverview Baptist Church to make donations to the Bryant family, Harris said. The money will help pay for two sets of funerals for the six children - one in Michigan on Thursday, and one in Ripplemead on Sunday.

In the church basement on Tuesday, 17-year-old Brittany Haase talked about the Bryant children while she watched other children in the church day care.

Like Haase, the Bryant children were part of a tight-knit group of home-schooled children from the church. Everyone is devastated, Haase said, trying not to cry.

Sue Melton, a church member from Pearisburg, said that Joyce Bryant is the person home-school parents call for tips on how to do it right. With nine children, the Bryants had to be organized, Melton said.

"They raised their children not just looking for academic excellence," Melton said. "She stressed life skills. Her kids were incredible at working out of books, but they could also run a household."

Behind the counter of M&W Market, Smith said she couldn't stop thinking about the Bryant kids, even though she did not know them well. Several times over the years, Smith said she watched the children playing with their mother at the local pool where she takes her children to swim.

"They were always hugging on her and kissing her face," Smith said. "It breaks my heart."