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Help Doria and Calavino (Tipple & Rose)

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Please help Doria and chef Calavino get back on their feet after a massive house fire.

Around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, Doria and Calavino Donati got a call from a neighbor, who told them that dark smoke was pouring out of their home on Rosedale Road in Princeton, N.J.

They were at work at the time at Tipple & Rose, their award-winning tea parlour and store on Nassau Street in Princeton. While Doria stayed at the shop, Calavino raced home to find that the back of their house was engulfed in flames. It took more than 20 minutes for firefighters to access hydrants and start working on the fire, during which time Calavino watched helplessly as more and more of the house burned.




Three Lawrence Township fire companies responded to the scene, as well as fire companies from Princeton, Hopewell, Ewing, Pennington Borough, West Windsor, Plainsboro and Trenton. Police said it took more than an hour to bring the fire under control. After that, firefighters had to use tools to pull down sections of the remaining ceiling as they searched for hidden pockets of flame.

One firefighter shared a video on the Lawrence Road Fire Company's Facebook page showing some of the effort involved.



By the time it was over, the entire top floor and back of the house was gone. All of their furniture, clothes, books, and belongings. All of Doria's guitars and music, her tapes, ADATs, masters, song books, and even journals she'd been keeping since she was 10 years old. All of Calavino's mementos and valuables, including things from her Dad who recently passed away. What wasn't destroyed by the fire was damaged beyond repair by smoke, falling debris, and water.





The cause of the fire is still under investigation, though it was likely an electrical fire that started on an outside wall.

Unfortunately, the situation is even worse than it seems: In April 2020, just one month after the country locked down for the COVID-19 pandemic, their insurance company informed them that their policy would be cancelled unless they removed the moss on the roof and siding of the garage. As the pandemic lockdown continued, they were not able to open their shop as planned and had no income, so they weren't able to address the moss issue immediately. Their policy was cancelled. At the time of the fire, they had no insurance to cover their losses, pay for temporary housing, or even board up what's left of the house.

We are trying to raise money to help with Doria and Calavino's most-urgent needs, so they can have a safe place to stay while getting back on their feet and keeping Tipple & Rose open.

Our initial goal is to try to raise enough money to tarp and board up the damaged property, replace some of their clothing, buy food and other essentials, and pay for six months of temporary housing for them and their two puppies. We know there will be expenses beyond that, but these are the things that we need help with immediately.

It's a big ask, but we hope you can help. Any amount you can offer will make a big difference.

Thank you. We'll be posting updates as often as possible.
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Donations 

  • Michael Massey
    • $50 
    • 7 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $100 
    • 11 mos
  • Cynthia Parker
    • $250 
    • 1 yr
  • Greshauna Sanders
    • $20 
    • 1 yr
  • Jeannette Bronson
    • $100 
    • 1 yr
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Organizer and beneficiary

Lylah Alphonse
Organizer
Princeton, NJ
Leola Donati
Beneficiary

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