Online Charity Raises Fast Money For Victims of August 31 Fire

The fire at Erika Pineda-Ghanny's house at 3 Tara Lane in Montville began at approximately 11:20 p.m. on August 31, By 2 a.m., the house was gone, but for Ghanny's friends, like Maggy Keet, the news didn't come until later on September 1.

"We were in shock, horrified," she said. "Everyone in our community could not believe what had happened. "

Keet, who knows Ghanny through a network of connected blogs focused on food and cooking, said that she learned about the fire through Ghanny's twitter account. As word got out among Ghanny's online contemporaries, Keet says that ideas for ways to help Ghanny and her family started to form, however nebulously.

"There were people who were really looking for a way to help," she said.  People were suggesting things like 'let's do an auction, let's do a crab bake.' there were so many ideas and they were so enthusiastic, but it's hard to put something in place immediately."

Keet, along with fellow blogger Alice Currah, "threw a website" together to collect donations and allow concerned people to "rally around Erika."

The site, Friends of the Ivory Hut, named after a website Ghanny was involved with, launched around 5 p.m. on September 1. By 2 p.m., September 2, the site had already raised over $5,000.

"As of right now, we've raised over $5,000 since last night," she said. "The website launched around 5 p.m., and we got that in less than 24 hours. I'm sure that we'll continue to raise money."

While raising that high an amount in such a short time may seem like an unlikely feet, food blogger and friend of Ghanny, Kamran Siddiqi, says that he is not really surprised by the outpouring.

"I think this really speaks to the power of blogging," he said. "We're reaching out to all of our readers, taking advantage of what we have, and raising as much money as we can. We want to help get her back on her feet."

Keet echoed a similar sentiment, praising the Ghanny's friends within the food blogging community.

"This whole thing is a testament to the strength and the goodwill of our community, but it also speaks to how special Erika is," she said. "Erika and her family are special people, no doubt. If this was reversed and it happened to someone else, she would be leading it, doing it for anyone."

According to Keet, the current plan is to collect as much money as possible and give it to Ghanny and her family in cash as a means for them to begin replacing lost items and securing necessities.

"They don't have anything right now," she said. "No driver's license, no Ids, no way to take any money out."

Thought Keet has had some connection with Ghanny, who is currently staying with friends, she does not believe that Ghanny is aware of how much is being done on her behalf.

"You know, she just texted me for the first time in three days," she said. "She emailed me at one point, and she mentioned raising money, but I don't thing she understands how much yet or what we'll continue to do. She would do the same for anyone else.

Donations to help Ghanny and her family can be made here.