ROCK FALLS – In a single day, $31,812 poured in for the Hopkins family, whom the community lifted on its shoulders after a fire Wednesday morning that killed five of seven family members.

Family, friends, and strangers alike are sharing on social media their affection, words of comfort, and a blanket of empathy through emotional and spiritual support.

“Our hearts mourn. ... We pray for the surviving members of the Hopkins family,” Rock Falls police said in a Facebook post. “Our hearts are heavy from the loss,” the city of Rock Falls added online, asking for prayer.

Patrick Hopkins, 61, who worked at Allied Locke in Dixon; his wife, Mary (Adams) Hopkins, 49, who worked at Kelley’s Market Mobil gas station in Sterling; their daughter Maggie, 26, who worked at the Sterling Walmart; son Donovan, 16, a Newman Central Catholic High School sophomore and athlete; and daughter Katie Jo, a seventh-grader at St. Andrew’s Catholic School in Rock Falls, died in the fire, along with their three dogs.

Smoke inhalation is the likely cause of death, Whiteside County Coroner Joe McDonald has said. Confirmation won’t be available for 4 to 6 weeks.

The Hopkinses had two other children, John, 23, also of Rock Falls, and Rebecca, 21, who lived with her parents but was not home at the time.

The $30,000-plus has been raised through two online GoFundMe accounts.

Because of privacy laws, the a­mounts raised by accounts set up at Sterling Federal and Sauk Valley Bank branches are not available.

A funeral Mass for all five family members will be celebrated at 11 a.m. today at Newman Central Catholic High School, 1101 St. Mary St., Sterling.

Visitation for all five family members ended at 8 p.m. Friday, also at Newman Central Catholic High School.