Christmas giveaway for local families displaced after fire at River Oaks Apartments Wednesday

COLUMBIA (WOLO): A fire at the River Oaks Apartment Complex Wednesday left several families displaced just before the Christmas Holiday. 

But Thursday morning, a local nonprofit organization, helped bring a little bit of joy and hope to these families with a gift giveaway.

A gift one Columbia mother of two wasn’t expecting. 

River’s Edge Retreat, a local nonprofit, donated toys, gift-cards, and $100 dollar bills to 15 families in need after their apartment homes caught fire Wednesday. 

Steve Ware, CEO of River’s Edge Retreat says, “for these kids to wake up on Christmas morning and not have any Christmas gifts to open up…it shouldn’t happen. We wanted to meet some of their wants, and that is to be the Santa Claus on Christmas morning for them.”

 “I just didn’t want this to ruin their Christmas, and this just means so much.” River Oaks resident Kathin Darby was home with her family at the time of the fire, and recalls the moment she started smelling smoke. 

“By the time I was walking to the door, the firemen was kicking my door in, snatched my grand kids up, and was like get out, get out, get out. When we got out the house, we had to run through fire and falling debris. By the time we got out the whole top of the building was caved in.”

She says it was an experience she tragically knows too well. “I lost my mom and my grand-mom in a house fire 11 years ago, and it just brought back so many bad memories…and it’s Christmas and I just didn’t want nobody else to be hurt because I’ve been through this before and I know how it is.”

Resident Cassandra Redmon said she’s still in shock. “It’s hard to process. I still haven’t come to terms with my house is gone, everything’s gone.”

Thanks to the overwhelming support from the community and River’s Edge Retreat, a small Christmas has been restored to these families, but they still need your help. 

“We all are homeless. We need places to go.”

“Just pray for us. That’s all I can really say. Just pray for us.”

If you’d like to help the families displaced by Wednesday’s fire at River Oaks Apartments, call 803-363-9821 or send an email to columbiasretreat@gmail.com and say you’d like to donate to River Oaks Apartments.

You can also check out River’s Edge Retreat’s website at www.riversedgeretreat.org