This past Sunday, a fire erupted at an apartment building in Bronx, New York, leaving 17 people dead, nine of them children, and more than 60 people injured. It was later determined that the fire was caused by an electric space heater that malfunctioned in a bedroom within the apartment. Mayor Eric Adams called it one of the “worst fires in city history,” and added, “This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York, and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in our city.”
Now Bronx native Fat Joe is stepping up to lend a helping hand. He teamed up with the New York City Mayor’s Fund to launch a fundraiser for the victims of the apartment fire. So far, he’s received contributions from Jay-Z and DJ Khaled, and he’s working on reaching out to other names in the music, sports, entertainment, and business for additional help. A statement about the fundraiser says “100 percent of all donations will help families and enable the distribution of emergency supplies for those in need.”
“I need all my people world wide to come together for the families devastated by the fire in the Bronx,” Fat Joe wrote in an Instagram post about the fundraiser. “I’m donating and I’m asking everyone that has a Heart to donate. these people are mostly immigrants that have no where to go they lost everything. it’s 10 degrees in the Bronx today!”
You can view Fat Joe’s post about the cause above and access the fundraiser itself here.