Hundreds attended a fundraiser dinner in Montreal Sunday for a woman who saved her seven children from a fire by throwing them out a second-floor window.

A day after the March 6 fire, local station CPAM started calling on the community to help Marjorie Jean Baptiste and her family. Baptiste did not have insurance and lost everything in her apartment.

Montreal's Haitian community rallied around her, and organized the fundraiser, which is considered the official kick-off to the fundraising campaign.

"It's somebody from the Haitian community who's having a serious problem, so it was important for us to help and to lend a hand," actress Fabienne Colas told CTV Montreal at the dinner.

"That was very courageous just to throw her kids out of the window there, she was fast," dinner attendee Emile Castonguay said.

Mary-Christine Jeanty of CPAM Radio said the community was very active in getting in touch with Baptiste and helping to get her story on the airwaves to raise awareness.

Hailed a hero

Baptiste recalled the fire at the event.

"I remember there was smoke everywhere," she said. "The scariest thing was not being able to see the flames."

She woke up to find her apartment on fire that night and by the time she gathered her seven children -- aged two to 10 -- the only option for escape was out a second-floor window.

"I took my littlest, my two-year old daughter, and threw her out," she recalled. "My oldest son was a little bigger and he didn't want to let go of me. I had to bite him to get him out the window."

Her children's fall were somewhat braced by a snow bank and two children fell into the arms of neighbours.

But her four-year-daughter still remains in hospital recovering from burns.

Baptiste has been hailed a hero but she shrugged that off.

"I did what I had to. I brought these kids into the world. It's my job to protect them."

With a report from CTV Montreal's Paul Karwatsky