Social media energize donation drives for Edgewater fire victims
FEBRUARY 2, 2015, 10:05 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015, 10:09 PM
BY ANDREW WYRICH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
They tweeted, posted, shared and liked. And within days, community members raised more than $140,000 on behalf of the tenants of the Avalon at Edgewater who were left homeless after an inferno consumed their apartment complex.
EdgewaterStrong.com has raised $75,000 for victims of the Avalon at Edgewater fire last month.
It’s a real-time example of how social media and crowdfunding have become increasingly important when disaster strikes — even when that disaster is localized to a single community, or in this case, an apartment complex. The virtual pleas for help for the hundreds of residents displaced in the blaze resulted in tangible results — a steady stream of donations, from cash to clothes.
“I really believe that without social media we could not have raised this much money so quickly,” said Sandy Rubinstein, whose Edgewater-based advertising firm partnered to start one of two fundraising websites. “Social media has a power that people probably realize is there, but might not really see until a moment like this – when it can literally change someone’s life.”
The ability to collect $141,000 in just seven days with only a few clicks is becoming the norm, experts say.
