Families impacted by deadly Millville fire receive outpour of donations including clothes, furniture
Donations collected for victims impacted by Millville fire
Many organizations and community members are coming together to help the nearly two dozen people impacted by the deadly fire that occurred in Millville last week.
MILLVILLE, NJ - The donations keep pouring in for fire victims in Millville, New Jersey.
So many organizations and people are coming together to help the nearly two dozen people impacted by the deadly fire on April 9.
What they're saying:
How do you quantify abundance? It is a relative term when you’ve lost everything and need everything.
But so much has been donated so far for the seven families who lost their homes and loved ones in a massive fire in Millville last week.
"I didn’t have any shoes, just the clothes on my back, but the outpouring from the community here has been tremendous," said Dane Brown, who lost his home in the fire.
In a loss so painfully visible, this is what remains of Dane and Carla Brown’s house at 323 South Fourth Street.
They were sleeping when a fast-moving fire swept through their home last week. His family escaped, but one neighbor was less fortunate.
"For John, losing his two kids, that’s where my heart really is," Dane said.
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While the community mourns the loss of two siblings who died in the fire, the community has also donated mountains of clothes and supplies.
"The volunteers are here today to sort through everything that’s been donated to the fire families," said Charlotte Benjamin Jones from Betty’s Way Foundation.
The Browns are grateful to pick up some things for themselves and their children.
"People do care, and you don’t know what impact you made in the community until something like this happened," Dane added.
Christine Makosky opened her sports training complex to collect and distribute donations. She is simply overwhelmed by the generosity.
"I live on the block. I grew up on the next block. I’m friends with two of the fire families. The others are my customers, and in the last five days, the rest of them are like my family already," Makosky said.
Jane Parker used to live in Millville, and Carlton Parker is a retired firefighter who’s seen the devastating fallout after a fire.
"We just saw the story days ago. We said let’s go to Millville. We packed up things that we could bring, and here we are," said Carlton Parker, making a donation.
At this point, the donations likely exceed the needs of the seven families.
They are also getting donated furniture for when the families move from hotels to new homes.
Christine says all the donations will be given away to other shelters and community organizations.
The Source: The information in this story is from the Millville community.