Support Residents of 87 Benton St after fire

Hi Neighbour,

 

The local community is coming together to support the residents of 87 Benton Street, Kitchener. Nine people, including two children plus pets were displaced from a multi-unit residential building fire on Saturday, July 9, 2022. The residents have been displaced by the fire indefinitely and will need resources to rebuild their homes (furniture, clothing, food, appliances, pet food, finding new homes etc). The intention of this group fund will be to divide the funds raised equitably amongst the residents.

 

Let's rally together to support our neighbours in their time of need!

If you can support the fund, the residents of 87 Benton St would be grateful as they navigate the aftermath of the fire and begin rebuilding their lives. 

Donating Physical Items:

Some neighbours have expressed interest in donating physical items (furniture, kitchen wares, household items etc) to the residents-thank you! If you want to donate physical items, please contact the Organizer (see below), and I will connect you with Liz, who will coordinate and receive donations. Liz lives on St George Street (near Benton & St George).

Thanks for supporting the residents of 87 Benton St!

 

More information about the fire from the news;

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2474736&binId=1.1807092&playlistPageNum=1

 

https://kitchener.citynews.ca/police-beat/kitchener-fire-investigating-after-blaze-on-benton-street-5567107

 

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2022/07/10/firefighters-extinguish-downtown-blaze.html

Individual Go Fund Me Pages for 87 Benton Residents;

Several of the 87 Benton Residents also have individual Go Fun Me pages established by their family/friends. I'm sharing links to each;

1. Karen & Peter

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-karen-and-peter-get-back-on-feet-after-fire?qid=637280062fe741442bfdc14298217ea7

2. Allison & her two children

https://www.gofundme.com/f/5tu4sb-fresh-start-for-allison?qid=1ce2a1517e0ddf82fe0357cd8251a58f

3. Connor

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-connor-start-over-after-fire?qid=bfb5e0f252da72a7d58975d70f12ae46

4. Mo

https://www.gofundme.com/f/mo-markham-lost-everything-in-a-fire?qid=53447763ccc0455755e7cfeecb268d5f

5. Ashley

https://www.gofundme.com/f/ashleyhynd

Updated Information for Transparency Purposes (July 12, 2022);

1. How are you related to the person(s) you are raising funds for?

I am a neighbour (Arrow Lofts, 112 Benton St) of 87 Benton St that had the devasting fire. As a concerned neighbour, I initiated this Go Fund Me page. The fund is intended to support all of the residents that need support-I understand that several residents have their own Go Fund Me pages, which are separate and not affiliated with this Go Fund Me page.

2. Your withdrawal plan to get the funds from your GoFundMe to the intended beneficiary/ies?

As there are multiple beneficiaries, a bank account has been opened at Kindred Credit Union for ease and transparency of the funds. With the account now opened, we are now in the process of finalizing our withdrawal plan. Once the withdrawal plan is approved by Go Fund Me, funds will be withdrawn into the newly created account, and each resident's equitable portion of the funds will be transferred to them. Funds sent to each resident will be documented to ensure transparency.

3. How the funds will be spent (please be specific as possible)

Unfortunately, many of the residents of this affordable housing building did not have contents insurance, leaving each of them in a difficult situation to rebuild their lives.

The funds will go to each resident needing support to help them replace belongings (clothing, furniture, food, toiletries, kitchen wares, pet items etc) and find new housing. As Kitchener has very costly rent rates right now ($2000 plus for a one-bedroom unit per month), these tenants who lived in affordable housing units are going to struggle to find new housing, so the funds raised will support them to get back on their feet.