04/23/2003

Donations to The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund should be sent to the Rhode Island Foundation. Checks should be made payable to The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund, c/o Rhode Island Foundation, One Union Station, Providence, RI 02903. Please mark "Station Nightclub Fund" on the envelope.

Victims and families seeking assistance should call (877) 748-3700.

Counseling, medical support

The American Lung Association of Rhode Island's Call Center has registered nurses and respiratory therapists available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. to answer questions about lung damage from all sources, including fire. The Call Center number is (800) 548-8252.

Friends Way, 146 Duke St., East Greenwich, a children's bereavement center, is offering the following services to the families affected by the Station fire. Peer-based support groups for those ages 3 to 19 is meeting every other week. Specialized groups will be offered for children who have lost a loved one and for children whose loved ones have suffered a traumatic injury. There will be a one-week camp for those ages 8 to 16 the last week of July at Camp Davis in Charlestown, sponsored by the Rhode Island Juvenile Officers Association. For more information, call Sue at 884-0200.

The Rhode Island Victims' Advocacy & Support Center (RIVASC) and the Diocese of Providence will sponsor bimonthly informational support sessions for families and friends directly affected by the Station fire. The sessions are designed to provide information about practical issues that arise in the aftermath of violent death, as well as group support offering coping tips and linkage with others who share a similar loss. Sessions will be facilitated by counselors and victim advocates with expertise in dealing with violent loss. The last session will be held in the St. John the Baptist School cafeteria, 17 St. John St., West Warwick, Tuesday at 7 p.m. For more information, call 943-9266.

The Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals' Division of Behavioral Healthcare Services continues to respond to the mental health needs of survivors, family members of victims, first-responders and health-care workers involved with the fire at The Station in West Warwick. For information on where to seek help in your community, call 462-3291, weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., or visit MHRH's Web site at www.mhrh.state.ri.us.

The Kent County Mental Health Center provides free support groups for family members of victims, witnesses and survivors at the center's Warwick office, at 300 Centerville Rd. Support groups are offered Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and are open to adults and children. For more information, call 738-4300.

Other fundraisers

Lois Guise, the bereavement program manager for Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, will facilitate bereavement-support group meetings for families and friends of the Station fire victims Tuesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express, Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick. Meetings are free. To register, call 727-7092.

The Providence Newspaper Guild is selling souvenir posters and videotapes marking the 30th edition of The Guild Follies to raise money for the Station fire victims. All proceeds will benefit The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund.

Posters and videotapes cost $20 each. A package of a poster, a videotape, and a Follies program from the Feb. 28 show costs $40. Please add $4 for postage and handling. Make checks payable to The Providence Newspaper Guild and send orders to the PNG, 270 Westminster St., Providence RI 02903. For information, call 421-9466.

The South Attleboro Knights of Columbus, 304 Highland Ave., South Attleboro, will hold a fundraiser for victims of the Station fire on Saturday from 6 to midnight. The evening will consist of a chicken and pasta dinner followed by the music of To The Limit. All proceeds will benefit The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund. Tickets are $15. For information, call Jim at 333-4946 or Joe at 728-4233.

A benefit concert for Donovan Williams will be held Sunday from 1 to 9 p.m. at the Westerly Elks Club, Dixon Street, Westerly. Matthias Steele, Inside Out, The Mike Crandall Band, Bad Eddie, Crutch Woman, Anything and Everything will be performing, and there will be a buffet from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $15. All proceeds will go to the Donovan P. Williams Charitable Fund. For information, call 596-9175.

A buffet benefit for Gina (Cattalozzi) Gauvin will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at Silvio's Restaurant, 131 Greenville Ave., Johnston. Tickets are $20. All proceeds will go to the Gina Gauvin Fund being administered by Citizens Bank. For more information, call Renee at 273-3003 or 233-0899.

The Department of Elderly Affairs and Local 2895 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 94, have joined forces with many of the state's senior centers and the Alliance for Better Long Term Care in a ribbon campaign to benefit the victims of the Station fire. Proceeds from the ribbon campaign will be presented to Tom Iannitti, executive director of the West Warwick Senior Center, for the West Warwick Fire Victims Fund at a "Day of Remembrance" -- scheduled as part of the Older Americans Month kick-off at the Warwick Mall -- on Wednesday, April 30. For information on the campaign, call Paulla Lipsey at 462-0561.

During the course of the summer, from late April to early October, sailing skippers racing on Narragansett Bay will be raising money for The Station Nightclub Fire Relief Fund by collecting sponsors, and in a Sail-a-thon format, every time a sponsored boat wins a race, the money raised from pledges will be donated. For more information, visit http://www.sailforthestation.org

Overflo's, Wave Avenue, Middletown, will be the site of a benefit concert and buffet to raise money for the family of Station fire victim Lisa Jean Kelly on Sunday, May 4, at 3 p.m. Bands schedule to perform will be Nuclear Device, ACME Trucking Co., Black and White and Gregg Hodde and the Blue Miracles. Tickets are $15. For more information, call Overflo's at (401) 846-3357 or Greg at (508) 761-5660.