Community Raises Over $19K To Help Family Who Lost Home In Fire

MASSAPEQUA, NY - An online fundraiser raised over $19,000 in just one day to help a Massapequa family after their home was destroyed in a fire earlier this week.

On Monday, a fire seriously damaged a Biltmore Boulevard home as well as a car inside the garage of the home and an abandoned house next door.

A campaign was started on the fundraising website GoFundMe by Tom Lowney on Tuesday to raise $10,000 to help the Ragusa family following the tragic event.

"In the coming days,weeks, and months ahead they will begin to rebuild and will need help with various unexpected needs that we can take for granted as we all have them in place now in our own homes," Lowney wrote on the page.

As of Wednesday night, the page well exceeded its goal, raising a total of $19,247 for the family.

One of the home's residents, TJ Ragusa, also wrote a heartfelt message on the fundraising page:

It’s times like these that I try to take a step back and count my blessings. All things considered, I lost nothing yesterday. Monica Ragusa Debbie Ragusa Michael Ragusa and I are safe, we’re blessed to have our health and safety. Furthermore, we’re blessed with friends, family and our community, who have all been supportive and loving beyond words. By the time the fire was completely out, our friends family and neighbors had brought us enough supplies to have gotten all of Biltmore Shores through Hurricane Sandy. We received countless offers of places to sleep and eat. My family away from home, the SUNY Maritime community, especially my coaches, teammates and their families, professors, friends and school administration all made sure I knew that they have my back. My Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and all of our family friends were on the scene with love, support, and helping hand to pick up the pieces. Families and friends of the Massapequa Mustangs brought garbage bags, storage bins, flashlights and everything else we could need to collect salvageable items from the house. My brother Daniel Fradella stood by my side the entire night, as he always has. A house is just a house and our possessions are just possessions. What we could never replace is our family, and the overwhelming support we have received. The morning after my childhood home burned down, I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the planet because of the help and love we’ve received from all of you and I cannot even begin to describe how grateful we are to have such amazing friends family and neighbors. Thank you a million times over to everyone who has been there for us through this experience. It’s a long road ahead but we will get through this, as we have all other obstacles in our lives, with the help and love of our unbelievable support system. God Bless you all.

To read more or to donate, visit the GoFundMe page here.

Photo: GoFundMe.com/Massapequa Family House Fire