Andrews University continues to help the victims of an apartment fire in Berrien Springs over the weekend. The Saturday fire at Park Manor Apartments displaced nine residents who are affiliated with Andrews, five of them current students. Andrews University Director of Service and Missions Teela Ruehle tells WSJM News the first priority was housing for those affected. Now the focus is shifting to longer term needs.
“Now that school is starting, we’re trying to support specifically the students who are registered and thought they were prepared, and now are finding that everything they prepared is gone,” Ruehle said.
Ruehle says Andrews is providing rent assistance to affected students and the community has been coming through with all kinds of donations.
“I love Berrien Springs. We’re a tiny little town, but they really take care of their people during these kinds of losses. Not just Andrews, but the local churches have been calling, the Girl Scouts brought by bags of basic needs stuff to give out to victims.”
Another big partner has been Neighbor to Neighbor. Ruehle says as the winter comes, new needs will arise, and that’s why Andrews University is taking donations from people.
Andrew University posted the following instructions for those who want to help apartment residents:
“If you wish to assist with a cash donation, please go to andrews.edu/go/give/, use the dropdown menu under “I want to invest in,” and select (or search for) “Other.”
Once you’ve selected that, insert “Park Manor Fire Victims” in the “My Instructions” field, and provide your applicable donation information in the subsequent fields.
