LYNN – Less than 24 hours after a devastating fire destroyed a multi-family home on Chestnut Street leaving at least two families homeless, two fundraisers sprang to life offering a little comfort in the face of catastrophe.”My son’s best friend lived on the second floor,” said Elena DeBellis Thornton. “I really don’t know much about what happened ? we just wanted to help.”The 2? story structure at 139 Chestnut St. stood boarded up and uninhabitable Wednesday after a fire, which family members said they thought started in a dryer, ripped through the wooden building.Thornton said it was actually her son’s girlfriend, Kathyrn Ath, who said they should launch a fundraiser.”I just helped write it up,” Thornton said. “We all did it together.”The pair created a page on GoFundMe, an online personal fundraising site where individuals, groups or organizations can set goals and raise funds.”It’s all done through PayPal,” Thornton added, referring to the online money transfer site.In her plea, Thornton asked people to find it in their hearts to help out Kevin “Slim” Chau and Saphanna Ny, who lost their home just two weeks from Christmas.She said the goal was initially $5,000, but she thought that might be too high, so she dropped it to $2,500.”But donations started coming in so fast, I put it back up to $5,000,” she said.By Wednesday evening, the site had reportedly raised $2,794, all via social media.Thornton and Ath were not the only ones pitching in, however.Pauline Spirito, owner of Infinity Boutique in Swampscott’s Vinnin Square, is in the middle of a coat drive and said she would be happy to donate winter coats to the family if they need them.Lynn English High School juniors Nick Milonopoulos and Thales Cesa are buddies with a classmate who lived on the first floor. Milonopoulos said when they heard about the fire, they knew they had to do something to help.”It was my friend’s house, he lost his dog, he lost his birds, we wanted to do something,” Milonopoulos said.The pair decided to ask every student in the school to pony up $1.”We have something like 1,700 kids so we’re trying to get at least $1,700,” he said.He said the pair spent today making announcements in each of their classes, talking to kids in the hallway and going into each lunch period to talk to kids.”We’re going to do it for a week,” Milonopoulos said.And they’re off to a good start. Milonopoulos said he only talked to classmates on Wednesday, but today he plans to circulate a bucket. Cesa, however, already started collecting.”He said he’s collected a lot and he gave $100 himself,” Milonopoulos said. “We’ll do it for a week then give it to them. It’s just to help out.”To make a donation to either cause, stop by Lynn English High School or visit www.gofundme.com/5ox4ds.”Any amount is welcome,” Thornton said. “It doesn’t matter.”Meanwhile, fire officials said the cause of the fire remains under investigation by arson investigators.