Volunteers Leave Donations At Monroe College Emergency Post For Survivors Of Bronx High-Rise Fire
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Many people in more than 100 apartment units escaped Sunday’s fire in the Bronx with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a phone.
A nearby college has been turned into an emergency post for survivors, CBS2’s Lisa Rozner reported Monday.
A room at Monroe College is packed wall-to-wall with clothing donations that have been coming in all morning for #bronx fire victims @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/dKwrYYWTB8
— Lisa Rozner (@LisaRoznerTV) January 10, 2022
Survivors arrived all day to pick up clothes and food. It’s also a resource center where loved ones were looking for those still missing and a place where those grieving can find comfort.
Renee Howard said she waited for hours at her 19th-floor window during the fire, until firefighters told her it was safe to leave.
“My neighbors died, the children died. The children, the parents, I don’t understand,” Howard said. “I don’t understand why that happened like that, but God spared me.”
Half a mile away, Howard broke down outside Monroe College’s Ustin Hall on Jerome Avenue, thinking of the two children she knew who didn’t survive.
“I know Mustafa, he had such beautiful, angelic eyes,” she said.
NYPD Community Affairs joined Howard in prayer moments after she left with clothes and blankets that were being handed out at the resource center set up by the Red Cross.
Powerful moment of prayer between @NYPDCommAffairs and #Bronx fire survivor Renee outside @monroe_college where @RedCrossENY is disbursing food and clothing @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/1X6ioGRQel
— Lisa Rozner (@LisaRoznerTV) January 10, 2022
Howard and others are being put up at nearby hotels.
“What were you able to retrieve from the apartment, if anything?” Rozner asked Pauline Bryan, a first-floor resident.
“Nothing at all,” Bryan said. “Right now I need some underwear and clothes.”
Donations of clothing and bedding filled one room alone. There were nonstop drop-offs from volunteers of all backgrounds and faiths touched by the tragedy.
“It could happen to anybody. It could happen to me,” said Alain Samba, a Bronx resident.
“There were clean towels and diapers, and wipes were needed,” said Julie Fair of Pelham. “Until the donations stop, I will be here every day.”
PHOTOS: On The Scene Of Deadly Fire At Bronx Apartment Building
The Lieutenant Governor and officials from the Office of Emergency Management visited the center Monday.
April Stevens left frustrated – no one could tell her where her sister, who has cerebral palsy and needs a wheelchair, is.
Stevens said Dorel Anderson was staying with her boyfriend Ramel Thompson on the 13th floor.
“My sister and her boyfriend, they were in apartment 13R. She’s handicapped and cannot walk, so she wouldn’t be able to make it out of the building. So we’re not sure if they made it out,” Stevens said.
Those who did make it out could not stop thanking the firefighters for their heroic efforts
The Red Cross said they will provide housing at hotels for at least the coming weeks.
Click here for resources if you were impacted or would like to help survivors.
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January 11, 2022 at 03:50AM
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