Volunteers are grateful by the overwhelming donations a community has given for the victims of the Mt. Pleasant fire.
Ginny Heredia with Neighbors' Consejo is thankful for the people who have been donating, "You see all the food, you see all the toiletries, you see all the clothing. We are at capacity, which is a good place to be at."

All three stories of Neighbors' Consejo are full of things donated for last Wednesday nights fire victims. "This is only one room, it's up the ceiling fan as you can see," said Heredia.

Classrooms are packed with even a sofa three floors up and newly dropped off bags just outside the garage are piling up. Now the organization has to move everything here to storage, holding it for when over 200 fire victims find new homes. Many have been moved to a Best Western hotel and are awaiting more permanent housing from the city.

Blakely Pomiett has volunteered four of the last six days, finding and folding donated clothes, including some for a now-homeless pregnant woman two days past her due date.  "Tell me who doesn't want to be a part of a community where, when something like this happens, people are there to support them," she said.

Neighbors' Consejo said they can't accept clothing and food donations at the moment but need volunteers to sort what's already given and welcome gift cards and cash.

The apartment building has been shored up, and investigators continue to work at the scene. But they have not yet determined what caused the fire last Wednesday.

The fire caused about $5 million in damage to the apartment building and about $15 million in damage at Meridian Hill Baptist Church.

Email To A Friend