WINNETKA : PTA Collects $800 for Victims of Fire

Twelve-year-old Mathew Bell hasn’t been back to school since a fire swept through his family’s apartment, destroying most of their belongings.

“We have no where to live now. We’re homeless,” he said with a voice older than his age. “My parents said we might have to sleep in our car, and if we do, I won’t be able to go to school until we find someplace else to live.”

Bell and at least 15 of his schoolmates from Winnetka Elementary School have been left homeless or displaced by the fire Wednesday that damaged the apartment house at 19916 Roscoe Blvd.

In a bid to help, the school’s Parent-Teacher Assn. has collected more than $800 for the families as well as clothes, food and toys.

Elizabeth Franklin, whose two daughters attend the school, decided to ask local stores for donations for the fire victims. “I just thought, ‘People need help tonight.’ So I went home and made the calls,” she said.

Along with the donations of clothes and food from school families, Franklin got Lucky’s to donate $300 and Target to give $500. Teachers and staff collected $71 for the victims. But the most cherished donation came from a kindergarten student who emptied her piggy bank and gave $2 in change, Franklin said.

Examining the stuffed animals and small figurines on a table in the school’s auditorium, Karina Mejia-Camaro, 8, said she will be back at school Tuesday for the first time since the fire. “I miss my teacher,” said the shy third-grader, as she clutched a stuffed dolphin. “And my friend, Heidi.”

Karina’s home was spared and her family has moved back in, but utilities have been shut off, leaving them no place to shower or cook food.

During the fire, Karina worried most about the doll she just received for Christmas. “Santa Claus just brought it to me and I wanted to take her with me,” she said. “But I had to leave her and her clothes behind.”

Mathew said his family saved pets, a few chairs and a Super Nintendo video game he received for Christmas.

“I just wish it never happened,” he said. “I wish we had a home still.”