How to help families who lost everything in fire

A family waits outside their house as firefighters take fire down. (Photo by Jim Striebich)

February 5, 2024

As is typical after a devastating house fire in Peekskill, citizens and community groups are offering ways to assist the families who’ve lost everything.

Yesterday afternoon the Copy Center on Park Street posted on Instagram that they were coordinating the relief efforts along with the Bean Runner Cafe, Salvation Army, Peekskill Rotary, and the Peekskill Elks Club.

Eddie Guiracocha, who is the proprietor of the Copy Center and is a first cousin to the family who lived on the first floor of the 1017 Orchard Street house, said he wanted to use the platforms he has to help his family. “My cousin was telling me, I’ve lost my school books, my computer. “I told them, you’re safe and okay, and material things can be replaced.”

Orchard Street house is uninhabitable after yesterday’s two-alarm blaze. (Photo by Regina Clarkin)

This morning Guiracocha started a Go Fund Me campaign here.

Items that can be contributed include gift cards and clothing,furniture, dog and cat food. Guiracocha said to contact him at [email protected]. And he can confirm the sizes of clothing that are needed. The Peekskill Elks Lodge is graciously collecting the larger donations and they need to be arranged with Guiracocha before dropping off.

About the Contributor

Regina Clarkin, Editor and Publisher

When the Peekskill Herald weekly newspaper ceased publishing in August 2000 it was the first time in the history of the city that there wasn’t a local newspaper. The award-winning weekly was often referred to as the ‘glue’ of the community. Founded on January 9, 1986 by Regina Clarkin, Kathy Daley and Rich Zahradnik with a $7,000 credit card line, the paper filled the void created when the daily Evening Star was sold to Gannett and moved out of town. Founding publisher Regina Clarkin continued to live in the Peekskill Cortlandt area and turned her attention to other life endeavors. Through the ensuing 19 years, Clarkin was frequently stopped in town and asked when she would start up the Herald again. In January 2019, Clarkin decided it was less labor intensive to deliver a weekly blog than a print newspaper so she began posting one story a week about life in Peekskill. After a successful crowd funding campaign in 2020, the Herald was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in July of 2021. Peekskill Herald is a digital relative of the former print edition, featuring many of the favorite aspects of the beloved Peekskill Herald such as old pictures, personality profiles and well written stories about newsworthy events. Regina Clarkin is the editor and publisher of the site. Photo by Joe Squillante