'Just 1 Human Helping Another': Suffolk Woman Raises Money For Neighbors

NORTH PATCHOGUE, NY — Darlene Morace has seen her neighbors across from her on Evans Street in Canaan Lake nearly every morning for several years.

After a devastating fire severely injured the family's older son and killed their dogs, forcing them out to seek shelter elsewhere on Halloween, she watched the heartbreaking impact on them unfold and knew that she had to help.

So Morace began collecting clothing and other household items for the family, and she started a GoFundMe. So far, Morace has raised about $2,850 out of her $5,000 goal.

"I am just one human trying to help another out in a tough spot," she said. "That's it."

The fire broke out at about 8:30 a.m. on Halloween. When firefighters arrived, they found a man in his 20s laying on the lawn outside the home with burns and suffering from smoke inhalation, North Patchogue Fire Department Chief Ted Peters Jr. said.

The man was taken by a Stony Brook University ambulance to the hospital, Peters said.

It took about 30 firefighters from six different departments to extinguish the flames at the 1 1/2-story home. Other departments included Patchogue, Hagerman, Holtsville, Holbrook, and Blue Point.

The cause of the fire has not been determined. Suffolk police Arson Squad detectives are investigating, Peters said.

No one else was inside the home, Morace said, adding that she was "under the impression" that the man was trying to save three dogs, but he was overtaken by smoke. He rushed outside the house, but then ran back in.

"Minutes later, he came running back out of the house and just collapsed on the front lawn," Morace said.

All three died in the fire.

The dogs were regarded as family also, Morace said, "So, it's really devastating."

When the matriarch of the family, who does not want to be identified, learned of her efforts, "it blew her mind that so many people have been reaching out," Morace said.

"I was just like, 'this is the best way that I can help — give them donations so that they can get the things that they need at the time that's most convenient for them because they don't have a home,'" Morace said, adding that it did not make sense to her to collect goods because there really isn't a place for them without a storage unit.

"So I just figured that, you know, just giving them money so that they could use it at the time that they need," she added.

The close-knit lakefront community of Canaan Lake has come out ten-fold.

"I have bags and bags of clothing in the house that I have washed and organized into women's clothes, men's clothes, children's clothing," Morace said, adding that she separated them into sizes and put them on hangers.

She has food donations and personal items, like shampoos, and toothbrushes and other items set up on a table, so that the mother of the household can just come in "and take what she needs for the moment."

"They don't have anywhere to put stuff so to have everything thrown at them, that would be a little overwhelming," Morace said.

While the family is overwhelmed, the outpouring of love and support from the community has them "taken aback" and they are "just are so worried" that they can't "let people know how much it means to them right now," Morace said. "I just tell her, 'Listen, just take it day-by-day for now.'"