Catholic community rallies around 2 Chicago families who lost everything in fire; over $65K raised

CHICAGO - Two Chicago families who lost their homes and everything in them in a fire, have discovered how much their Catholic school family cares.

Between them, the families have three students attending Saint Bartholomew School in Portage Park.

When tragedy struck, the school went to work.

"We went outside of our own space and reached out to all other Catholic schools In our community who just stepped up and began to support our families with all sorts of love and donations and compassion," said Nilma Osiecki, the St. Bartholomew principal.

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She says she is proud of the rapid response .

The fire, back on Jan. 19 in Old Irving Park, gutted a three-flat building, impacting three families who are all related. They lost everything including two of their beloved pets: Bella the cat and Gigi the dog.

During Catholic Schools Week, students at St. Ferdinand School, in Chicago’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood, held a fundraiser, selling miniature stuffed animal bracelets. The $500 raised was used to buy clothing, toiletries and gift cards.

All of the items were presented to the family and an assembly at Saint Bartholomew Monday morning.

"I don't have words to say thank you so much to everyone, to my son's high school Notre Dame," Heromi Romano, who has six children, said. "The principal [was] here the same day. The next day they have shoes, they have clothes for the kids, they have uniforms. They support us very, very well. We are surprised how blessed we are."

The students who headed up the collections said they were just happy to see the families smile.

Cecylia Venturella, a St. Ferdinand student council member, said she's learned "to be grateful for everything you have and if there are people who need stuff, and if we can help them, it's awesome to do that.

The families also has a Go Fund Me page that has raised more than $65,000 of a $100,000 goal.