Michiganders lend helping hand as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton landfall
(CBS DETROIT) - As Florida braces for Hurricane Milton's impact, Michiganders are responding to help with relief efforts after the storm hits.
Volunteers with multiple organizations in Michigan are lending a helping hand to aid in recovery efforts.
Greg Martin is the executive director of Disaster Relief at Work. The nonprofit's emergency buckets have been delivered to disaster areas for more than a decade.
"The bucket has become our mascot, really," said Martin. "But it's become really something that we're known for and it's a way to get a lot of supplies to people who think they need one thing when really they need five things."
Volunteers help pack supplies at its warehouse in Waterford, and the buckets are shipped around the country.
"One of the things that's great about the bucket is that it can be stored outside," said Martin. "So we can get a number of supplies to people, and we can get them a kit of cleanup stuff that they need to help muck out their home after a flood, and communities that are doing distribution on the ground don't have to find more warehouse space when there's no space."
He said in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the most requested items were cleaning supplies, generators, space heaters, and water filtration systems.
In Florida, Harold West is one of 66 American Red Cross Michigan Region volunteers who are deployed throughout the southeast.
"I am right now manning what's called an ERV – an emergency response vehicle – where we provide food to the communities that, as I said, have been impacted," West said from Tampa. "We're loading up supplies, and we're doing a pre-setup so that after Milton hits, we're going to be right out there in the community, ready to go."
Becky Gaskin, who is from the Flint area and has been stationed in the Carolinas, recalled the moment a local official in South Carolina told her how desperate the community was for food.
"He goes, 'Be prepared because the kids are so hungry that they were swarming the van that they couldn't wait to get the food,'" Gaskin, the executive director of East Central Bay Chapter, said, fighting back tears. "He goes, 'You helped feed my kids and my neighborhood.'"
"The devastation has just been unbelievable and the support that we're giving them – it really touches you," said West. "We know that they really do need us. And it makes you feel good to be able to help."
"When the worst things happen, you usually see the best in people," said Martin. "At the end of the day, all we have is each other."