CINCINNATI – Pleasant Ridge neighbors are rallying behind eight families left without a home after a devastating fire Friday night.
Andrew Lyon said a wakeup call alerted him to a fire at an apartment building at the corner of Robison Road and Montgomery Road.
“I went out on our front porch. I look to the left, and there’s smoke pouring out of the building,” Lyon said.
He grabbed his phone and started recording. Through the smoke he noticed the families impacted out of the sidewalk.
One family stuck out to him.
“Personally, that’s what hit at me. The kids. The family I interacted with. The mother was pregnant, had two young kids," Lyon said.
He had never met them, never come in contact with them.
“Being able to interact with those people made it more impactful to me,” Lyon said.
“I need to do something more,” he thought.
So Lyon and another neighbor, Leslie Raulie, reached out through social media asking for donations to help eight families.
Raulie posed the question.
“These kiddoes might not have a normal kind of home for awhile. Is there anything we can do to make it more normal for them?” she said.
Donations poured in – enough diapers, food, clothing and toys to fill a living room. Gift cards, too.
“To see all this is really touching,” said Rauiie said.
Lyon agreed.
“It’s pretty cool. I think that knowing your neighbor has your back is a very comforting feeling,” he said.
You can donate to the fire victims at this GoFundMe page.
