After a fire destroyed two 160-year-old buildings in historic downtown Bowmanville, Ont. on March 6, the business community continues to rally behind those affected.
The fatal fire displaced around 40 people and claimed a woman’s life.
In a press release last Thursday, Durham Regional Police Services (DRPS) identified the woman as 54-year-old Kelli Faris. A GoFundMe has been set up to cover funeral expenses.
As of now, 69-75 King Street West has been demolished, leaving a deep scar in the downtown streetscape. The adjacent building to the west is boarded up, pending evaluation by structural engineers. Its future remains uncertain.
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, the community came together to support those impacted – 99 King became a refuge for displaced residents until the Red Cross arrived and numerous businesses spent the day serving free food and coffee to first responders.
Two weeks later, the community has continued to ramp up its support.
The Salvation Army Bowmanville has been tasked with handling donations to assist displaced residents. In total, tens of thousands of dollars have been received in the forms of cash and gift cards.
Director of Operations Allison Rennick expressed her gratitude to the community: “I don’t really think there are any words to say how overwhelming the support has been.”
Donation information is available on the Salvation Army Facebook page.
While the Salvation Army focuses on the residents, the Clarington Board of Trade, (CBOT), is focusing on the businesses.
Executive director Bonnie Wrightman explained how they are assisting impacted business owners.
“We were able to pull together a business fire relief fund,” she said. “We will be collecting those funds and equally distributing that money to those businesses impacted.”
Donations to the CBOT fund can be made here.
In addition to the BOT’s efforts, many businesses in the downtown core have done some sort of fundraising.
A week after the fire, The English Rose Tattoo Club hosted a raffle and raised over $5,000 in two days, with the money going to the Salvation Army.
Nathan Draper, one of the tattoo artists, was overwhelmed by the response.
“We had so many people reach out to us and donate prizes to our raffle throughout the day,” he explained. “So, it was a community effort.”
“The shop kind of served as a platform for the community to stand on to raise that money together,” he said.
Several other businesses held fundraisers this past weekend. Markets Ontario raised a total of $8,000, with that money being split between the CBOT fund and Salvation Army. Gather, a clothing store located down the street from where the fire took place, raised just under $18,000 during their fundraising efforts, with the owner writing in a social media post, “There are simply no words big enough to properly thank you!!!”
On March 29, Talk of The Town will host a pop-up event behind Markets Ontario in collaboration with The Willow Branch, a flower shop that was also destroyed in the fire. According to a social media post, it will be a cash-only event and run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A full list of events is available here.