Revere Residents Respond with Outpouring of Help for Fire Victims

By Sue Ellen Woodcock

Victims of last week’s four-alarm fire were literally left with nothing except the clothes on their back and the residents and officials have come out in full support of the families, providing food, shelter, moral support and more.

Mayor Brian Arrigo has formed a Relief Fund for families victimized by the fire that destroyed 41-45 Taft St. on Tuesday, June 13.

The Relief Fund is hosted at People’s United Bank. Checks should be made payable to Taft St. Relief Fund/City of Revere. Deposits can be made at any People’s United Bank, or mailed to:

 

Taft St. Relief Fund/City of Revere

People’s United Bank
310 Broadway

Revere, MA 02151

 

The Mayor and his staff will be working in the coming weeks to put together a fundraising event. More details about this event, as well as future disbursement of relief funds, will be announced soon.

Residents displaced by the fire should ensure that they have a caseworker with the Red Cross; the Red Cross hotline can be contacted at 1-800-564-1234. For more details on the Fund, contact the Mayor’s Office at 781-286-8111; or by emailing Joseph Gravellese ([email protected]) or Linda DeMaio ([email protected]).

Throughout the week Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna and Mayor’s aide Joe Gravellese worked with the fire victims, the Red Cross and state emergency management staff. They worked on getting hotel rooms to add to the voucher given by the Red Cross.

The day of the fire and the remainder of the week,  the First Congregational Church at 230 Beach St. donated the church as a command center. Volunteers used the church’s food pantry to feed the victims and volunteers.

First Congregational Church at 230 Beach St. will continue to accept donations tomorrow and they will be holding any cash donations until the fund is established. Gift cards or money will be most helpful, but obviously any donations of any kind that people are able to make would be much appreciated.

At Monday night’s City Council meeting,  McKenna gave thanks to numerous individuals and organizations including the firefighters, the Firefighter Wives group, public works and police department. She noted the assistance from The Neighborhood Developers, Pastor Tim Bogertman of the First Congregational Church, Matt Philbin of the Rodeway Inn, CAPIC, Mass Housing, Red Cross, Salvation Army, the Division of Insurance, Corey Abrams and For Kids Only.

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