Victims of the fire at the Riviera Ridge Apartments are still getting help in piecing their lives together from both Binghamton University and the community.
The University is continuing to provide counseling services to those affected, and has established a fund to benefit the victims. In addition, the University is working with various organizations, such as the Red Cross, to supply students with affordable living and to replace lost possessions.
Students affected by the fire have also been able to turn to BU’s Decker School of Nursing and School of Management (SOM) for assistance.
The School of Nursing has been able to provide aid to students through the Gertrude Skelly Nursing Foundation, a charitable organization based in Florida which provides emergency funds to nursing students around the country who are enrolled in a university and in critical need of help.
“This foundation provided a grant for four of Binghamton’s students,” said Joyce Ferrario, dean of Decker.
Weiling Kwan, a senior nursing major who lost all of her possessions in the fire, received one of the grants. Kwan lived in Building G, which received the most damage and was destroyed.
“I was very thankful for the grant. Decker really stepped up — they found me, I didn’t have to ask for help,” Kwan said.
“We put out a call to faculty and staff to aid the students. The whole conference room became full of useful items donated to the students,” Ferrario said. Donated items included silverware, plates and irons, among others. She said that there are still items left and urged students in need to contact the Decker School.
Kwan said that she got a lot of Decker donations, including kitchen supplies. The school also tried to replace her textbooks.
The Red Cross also aided victims by supplying them with vouchers to local stores, such as Wal-Mart.
Kwan, who is currently living at University Plaza where she has been given a discounted price on housing, said she is still dealing with the effects of the fire, and that she is grateful for BU’s help.
Stanley Ng, a junior management major and victim of the fire, said the help he has been provided by the SOM and other campus organizations has been tremendous.
“SOM gathered money to get us Wal-Mart gift certificates,” he said. He also said that alumni from his fraternity had collected $1,000 to help him and two other brothers.
Like Kwan, Ng said he is also trying to move on with his life and is currently living at University Plaza and paying discounted rent.
Newman House, the BU’s Catholic center, has volunteered its services to provide financial assistance and housing to victims, according to Ryan Yarosh, a BU spokesman.
“Rev. [Bob] Sullivan will try to accommodate as many people as possible with priority given to students who live in building G because they lost everything,” Yarosh said. “A student’s religious preference is not a factor: one does not have to be Catholic, Christian or a member of any religion in order to receive help.”
Any students still in need of assistance can contact Sullivan of Newman house, by e-mail at frbob@binghamton.edu or telephone (607) 798-7202.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the fire victims’ fund can send it to the Binghamton University Student Emergencies Fund, account number 1046550, c/o Binghamton University Foundation, AD-254 P.O. BOX 6005, Binghamton, N.Y. 13902-6005.