Mount Vernon community steps up after fire leaves nearly 200 people displaced for Thanksgiving
MOUNT VERNON, New York (WABC) -- Nearly 200 people in Mount Vernon won't be able to return to their homes for Thanksgiving after a fire ripped through their apartment complex this weekend, but the tragic moment has brought out the best in the community.
So many residents have stepped up to help the victims that officials are now telling people to stop making donations. On Thursday, the city is organizing a Thanksgiving football game to benefit the victims.
Angela Bennett, a volunteer, could be home preparing for Thanksgiving instead of sorting through trash bags of donated clothes, but the mountain of generosity, bags filled with the bare necessities for people who lost everything in a fire, would not be possible without the magic of community.
When asked why she feels personally obligated to be involved in this process, Bennett credited "humanism."
"We all have to be human," she said. "This could have been me. It could have been my child. It could have been anyone in my family, and I'd want somebody to show up for me like this."
The army of volunteers fought through fatigue by cheering each other on, and thinking about those who no longer have a home for the holidays.
"It touched the heart. Everyone kind of froze for a minute and you felt the goosebumps on your body and your skin," said volunteer Nigel Jeremiah.
That was the feeling when David Anderson and his family walked through the door, with only the clothes on their backs.
As a social worker, Anderson is usually the one helping the less fortunate, but now finds himself in need of help.
"I've only been homeless for a couple days and I'm like - it's a lot," he said.
Sunday's early morning fire on Cottage Avenue displaced nearly 100 families right before Thanksgiving.
"I'm born and raised here in Mount Vernon and it really just warmed by heart to see that so many people stopped what they were doing and kind of came together for us," Anderson said.
The Doles Center received an overwhelming amount of donated items, to the point where officials had to tell people to stop donating them and instead make monetary contributions or give gift cards like one organization chose to do.
"I think what we've been able to do and everyone in the community coming together enables those families to still have somewhat of a Thanksgiving," said Glenn Hechler of the Community Police Relations Foundation.
"Making sure that people are treated with dignity and see a light at the end of the tunnel. Through all of the soot - they have to see a light," said Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson.
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