Communities Gather To Support Families Displaced By Freeport Fire
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FREEPORT (KDKA) -- Community members gathered together Sunday to show love and support for the families who were displaced by a fire in Freeport in early July.
It happened on the night of July 3. A devastating fire rolled through an apartment building and attached home on Market Street. Four families lost everything that night.
"The entire top floor was gone, so everything I had was gone. All I got out with was my shoes, shirt and shorts, and my phone," Ryan Winter said.
Kelly Guenther's home was connected to the building.
"Our bedroom is totally destroyed. There's a giant hole in the chimney that's in between the two houses, so you can see right through there," she said.
Not long after the fire, Jackie Gaughan began planning an event to raise money and help the families get back on their feet.
A giant spaghetti dinner with enough food for a thousand people was held Sunday with money and goods donated by the Freeport, South Buffalo and Buffalo Township communities.
"We are hoping to raise $10,000, which would be $2,500 per family," Gaughan said. "Obviously, we expect to supersede that."
The fire victims appreciate the help needed to rebuild their lives.
"The Freeport community is just amazing. It's overwhelming, the support that we have," Guenther said.
"More so than what the donations are, I think just the support, the outreach from the people," Winter said.
"This is what you get when you live in a small, tight community," Gaughan said. "Everybody knows everybody, everybody loves everybody, everybody's got each other's back. That's the kind of community that I want to be in and raise my family in, along with all these guys."