‘FRIENDS’ INDEED
HUNDREDS TURN OUT TO DONATE, HELP VICTIMS OF BARCLAY FRIENDS INFERNO
WEST CHESTER » Donations for victims of the fire at Barclay Friends senior home poured in to a collection center set up at Good Will Fire Company on Sunday. Almost 200 residents of the senior living community were displaced after the building caught on fire late Thursday evening.
So many people were turning out with wheelchairs, walkers, clothes and toiletries that volunteers were simply overwhelmed at the outpouring of support from the community. Police were needed to direct traffic Sunday afternoon as members of the public stopped by the fire station on Union Street beginning at 9 a.m. Boxes of clothes and blankets filled the fire truck bays and piled up next to firefighter turnout gear. Firefighters filled more than two trucks with walkers and by 3 p.m. the organization had to stop taking donations.
Hartz said the efforts were organized by a Facebook group called Trucks2 which has recently collected items for areas in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico affected by the recent hurricanes.
“We figured if we’ve helped other states, we need to do something for people in our own backyard,” said one of the organizers, Good Will Fire Company president Ted Hartz. He described people’s generosity as unbelievable. “We’re going to have well over our need. We posted this Friday night at 11:30 and by Saturday it had reached 13,000 people,”
Hartz said the group was able to secure a nearby warehouse and will take extra items there. He said they will be donated to area charities, which will be welcomed at this time of year.
In addition to material donations, volunteers were also collecting cash and checks as well as offering an online link for credit card donations at donor-perfect. net.
As community members were dropping off items, members of Barclay Friends home were on hand searching through those goods to take to displaced residents. One of them was nurse Keri Foreman. She was ’shopping’ for warm clothes for a number of residents, including 100-year-old Helen Carey. Next to Foreman was Peg Hoffman of Exton who is Carey’s daughter. “My mom is okay,” she said. “I’ve been here volunteering. Keri, and the staff at Barclay’s is so wonderful. She became a part of my family.”
Chris Karpinski of West Goshen was one of the many people who came by donate items and stayed to help. “The community’s response is just incredible,” she said as she helped sort wheelchairs. “But that is just the kind of place that Barclay Friends is.”
Paris Eleby came from Germantown with adult diapers and toiletries, he then stayed to help sort the donations.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said volunteer William Murphy of West Chester, who came out at 11 a.m. and stayed the rest of the day helping others unload.