For many Kennett Square area residents, the thrill of celebrating the mushroom drop on New Year’s Eve was marred by the knowledge that a house fire raged a couple blocks away.

Multiple fire companies responded about 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 to the 200 block of East Linden Street, where a blaze left Shanté Maxwell and her family shaken and displaced. But the community is reaching out to assist them.

On Thursday, Jan. 8, the Joseph and Sarah Carter Community Development Corporation (CDC), a neighborhood advocacy group formerly known as the Historic East Linden Project, announced that a fund has been set up to accept donations for the family.

“I felt blessed that everyone was able to get out,” Shanté Maxwell said in a press release from the CDC.

The family’s home and possessions were nearly a total loss, and Maxwell’s three children and fiancé are scattered, staying with various relatives. Two of the family’s beloved cats died in the fire, and the third is missing. “I just really want my family back together,” Maxwell said.

She expressed gratitude to the fire company, which responded quickly, and the neighbors who provided her “with blankets to keep warm while I was watching our home burn.” She said the Red Cross housed the family in a hotel until last Monday, but that benefit has run out.

“Everything I had is gone – my kids’ Christmas presents, our money, even my ID. We have nothing to start over with,” she said.

Maxwell and her family want to continue living in the borough. “It was always my dream to raise kids in Kennett because of the schools, the community support, and not having to worry about shootings and crime,” she said.

Theresa Bass, president of the Carter CDC, called Maxwell’s oldest daughter a strong youth leader in the community who is doing well at Kennett Middle School. “We need to do all we can to help,” Bass said. “I hate to think that this could be a setback, especially when so many folks care so much in our community.”

Donations, which should be designated for the “Maxwell Family Fund,” can be made to the Carter CDC, P.O. Box 37, Kennett Square, Pa.,19348, or online at the Carter CDC website, www.cartercdc.org. Because the nonprofit is a 501(c)(3), the contributions are tax-deductible, the release said.

The Carter CDC was founded a decade ago by members of the community to improve the quality of life in the Historic East Linden neighborhood and surrounding communities.

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