A large crowd turned out for a fundraiser at a restaurant in Somers, where every penny raised will go to the family who lost their four young children in a house fire on Tuesday.
It's a tragedy the town is still healing from, and with heartbreak comes compassion as people packed Joanna's Restaurant Friday night.
“This struck a nerve with everyone who saw what took place in town. What a tragedy," said Jeff Lipton, whose wife Joanna runs the restaurant.
“It’s a community town and when anything happens that affects anyone in the town, everyone comes together," he continued.
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A nearby school and church opened up their lots for overflow vehicles, and a bus company donated a bus to drive people back and forth.
The band donated its pay and tips to the cause, and waitresses donated a portion of their tips, as well. Lipton said he’s blown away by everyone’s generosity.
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Firefighters could be seen walking around the outside of the restaurant collecting donations from people who couldn't make it inside.
“Individuals have been stopping in here all day and yesterday just dropping off contributions,” Lipton said. “People are dropping things off, I don’t even know where things are coming from!”
At the fundraiser, “Somers Strong” t-shirts were sold along with “Somers Strong” ornaments. The restaurant, a local tattoo shop and attorney’s office all said they'd match the first $1,000 raised.
“Anytime something like that, a tragedy of that magnitude takes place in small community like Somers, it’s just, we don’t have that type of tragedy happen and we don’t want anything like that to happen in our town,” Lipton said. “You can’t change what’s happened but hopefully we can do something for the children who survived and hopefully give them some sort of future because pretty much their future got wiped out the other night.”
All of the money raised will be donated to the town's Angel Fund.
"My heart goes out to the first responders. To the people that basically put that fire out," Lipton said.
