The Bronx Community Foundation spent almost none of the funds it raised for victims of the 2022 Twin Parks apartment fire.
The Bronx Community Foundation spent almost none of the funds it raised for victims of the 2022 Twin Parks apartment fire. ·  View in browser
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At the end of 2023, more than $389,000 in fire relief funding raised by the Bronx Community Foundation remained unspent. Photos: Office of Mayor Eric Adams
The Bronx Community Foundation spent almost none of the funds it raised for victims of the 2022 Twin Parks apartment fire.
By Sam Mellins

When a devastating fire ripped through the Twin Parks apartment complex in the Bronx three years ago, leaving 17 dead and dozens injured and homeless, the Bronx Community Foundation sprang into action.

By the end of the day, the organization, which was founded in 2017 to support social services nonprofits in the Bronx, had started a fundraising drive for the fire’s victims. The foundation said it was “working with community members, partners and local elected officials to mobilize resources as quickly as possible.” Both Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul’s offices promoted the foundation’s effort, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Two years later, internal financial audits show, almost all of that money was still sitting in the bank. The foundation had spent only a small fraction actually helping the fire’s victims: In 2022, it sent $30,120 to two charities supporting Gambian immigrants, who made up most of the fire’s victims; the next year, the foundation spent an additional $26,340 on fire relief — though it’s not clear what specifically those funds went to.

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