January 24, 2022
Thank you for being so kind and generous with your donation in response to the Fairmount fire tragedy. Children First stepped forward to try to make a small dent in the suffering caused by the loss of life and home and didn't expect the extraordinary outpouring of support from over 1,500 individual donors which has raised over $110,000. You warmed our hearts and more importantly showered these two families with an outpouring of generosity and compassion.
We want you to know that we have been in touch with both families and as of this week turned over 100% of the funds to the families and we're no longer collecting funds. Tyhara Woods and her 3 sons made it out of the house alive, fortunately. But everything they owned was destroyed. Your donations will help rebuild a cozy and warm home for these children. Vanessa McDonald is the grandmother now helping to raise the five-year-old who was the only child to survive in that family so devastated by the fire. Your donation will help his grandmother build a good life for this little boy. We are humbled and grateful that with your support we can help these families rebuild from this tragedy.
Children First is the greater Philadelphia region's leading advocate for children. We are not an emergency response organization. However, we stepped forward in this case because we wanted to act and that's what we do: we act when we see a need and we are always working to put good things in place for our most vulnerable children.
In our day-to-day work, we work to improve the lives and life chances of our region's low income, Black and Hispanic children by advocating for the building blocks of opportunity - equitable access to high quality early education, sound health care, effective public schools, as well as dependency and delinquency systems that heal, not harm, children. We work with and organize parents, youth and concerned citizens to advance these fundamental requirements of a more just society and better future.
We do many amazing things that change the lives of children - learn about us by visiting childrenfirstpa.org.
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Thank you very much and please know that you have made this horrible situation infinitely better for these families.
Donna Cooper
Executive Director