I’m Mark, a graduating UCR student in the Mathematics undergraduate program, and I am one of the many who have been affected by the apartment fires on Iowa and Everton in Riverside.

I was away when the fire started, so I wasn’t hurt, but I also wasn’t there to rescue any of my belongings, including my pet spider; my guitars; dozens of books (including expensive math textbooks); all of my electronics aside from my phone, laptop, and headphones; all of my board games; my clothes and regalia for graduation; and pretty much everything else that I value.

Due to where my apartment was relative to the fire, the city has labelled it as unsafe for me to go to retrieve any of my possessions. It is unlikely that any of them will be in working condition even if I could get them.

Even with renters’ insurance, a disaster like this is financially devastating, and I am not in any place to be able to deal with this, seeing as though I will be moving to Oregon for a PhD program. As you may know, PhD students don’t get paid much and moving costs a lot.

Any donation you can muster will be greatly appreciated and will go to good use.