A screenshot from the fundraiser shows it has surpassed its goal in just 24 hours.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Just a day after a high-rise apartment fire left five people dead, members of the Minneapolis community have come together to help the survivors.
For just about 50 years, the People’s Center has been serving the Cedar-Riverside area with free healthcare. After Wednesday’s fatal fire, they decided there was a lot more than that they could do to help. And on Thanksgiving, they’re grateful for the response.
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Fundraiser for Minneapolis fire victims surpasses $50K goal in less than a day
Just a day after a high-rise apartment fire left five people dead, members of the Minneapolis community have come together to help the survivors.
"It’s very touching, it’s moving at this time of the year," said Karina Forrest-Perkins.
Forrest-Perkins couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A fundraiser to help Cedar-Riverside fire victims and families that set a $50,000 goal, with a month to meet it, surpassed it in 24 hours.
"So this was one of the most touching things we’ve experienced," she said. "There are lots of tears yesterday and this morning. We were overwhelmed with the response."
Only blocks away from the fire site, the clinic, founded in 1970, is very much part of the fabric of this neighborhood. The impact of the fire was felt inside the center’s office with one of its staff members losing his aunt in the blaze.
"People are going to need everything and they don’t even know what they’re going to need yet," she explained. "So I’m not going to ask them."
With the Red Cross dealing with immediate needs, the People’s Center told survivors they’d work on the long term.
"I said, 'We’re just going to raise the funds and we’ll hold them here and coordinate with you later, once you start working with families and individuals and find out what the needs are,'” explained Forrest-Perkins. “We’ll all get together with partners and we’ll make sure the families get 100 percent of the dollars.”
It may be clothing, furniture, funeral costs, or burials -- or things no one’s thought of yet. The fund will help ease the stress of tragedy.
The People’s Center plans to keep that fundraising effort open until the end of December. You can click here to donate.