Correspondent photos / Russell Brickey
Community members gather at Penguin City Brewing Company in Youngstown to support people displaced by the Realty Tower explosion. During the event, Rotary Night Out, $4,000 was raised from Rotary clubs in the Mahoning Valley.

YOUNGSTOWN­ — In the wake of tragedy, Rotary clubs from around the Mahoning Valley held a charity event to benefit displaced tenants.

Gathering at Penguin City Brewing Company in Youngstown on Wednesday, club members generated funds for residents of Realty Tower who were evacuated following a May 28 natural gas explosion.

The event included a gift basket raffle and a $3,000 check from Mahoning County Community Improvement Corporation.

Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler, Commissioner Anthony Traficanti, Rotary Club of Youngstown President George Nelson and members of the MCCIC presented the oversized ceremonial check.

The “Rotary Night Out” raised $4,000, according to Rotary officials.

Clubs from Austintown, Boardman, Brookfield, Canfield, Liberty-Girard, Struthers, Warren and Youngstown participated.

Originally, the event was conceived of as a chance for Rotary officials and members to get to know each other, but the goal shifted after the explosion, Nelson said.

In addition to fostering local business connections, the event was meant to draw attention to the difficulties local businesses have been facing since the COVID-19 pandemic, Lown added.

“We want to make sure that we can help (small businesses) accomplish their goals and succeed,” she said.

“When the other local club presidents and I started planning this event a few months ago, the idea was to get members from the different area clubs to mingle,” Nelson said. “After the explosion inside the Realty Tower, the club presidents decided we wanted to add a fundraising element to it.”

“You have the evacuation of International Towers” — the high-rise apartment building immediately to the south of the Tower –“further reducing the downtown customer base.”

Also, damage to the Realty Tower necessitated that the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel close for the time being as Realty is demolished.

“So, our objective, at least in part, is to provide some help to downtown businesses,” Nelson said.

Another club president said that the fundraiser is a testament to what Rotary stands for.

“We are all brothers and sisters with the same purpose in mind,” Cindy Matheson, president of the Rotary Club of Warren, said, “to better our communities, to serve our communities and be able to help out around the world.”

Gift baskets were provided by Perret Images, the Sandwich Factory, Oak Hill, Youngstown State University, 4th Ward Councilman Mike Ray, Mahoning County, Western Reserve Flag and Sports and the Rotary Club of Boardman.

Rotary is an international business and charitable organization which claims 1.2 million members and 33,000 clubs located in 200 countries around the world.