Non-Profit Overwhelmed By Donations For Harvey Evacuees
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The outpouring of donations from North Texans to Hurricane Harvey victims is overwhelming.
"We got 341,000 square feet right here that was just packed with donations. That's over three times the average Walmart just full of donations ready to go," says Grant Kemp of Trusted World, a North Texas-based non-profit.
The task of getting donations into the hands of Hurricane Harvey victims is also a challenge. Trusted World spearheaded the local relief effort, collecting donations and, now, shipping them to South Texas.
"We are in constant contact with them, saying who is in the most need of what items? How can we get that to them the quickest way possible?" asks Kemp.
But volunteers are the heartbeat of the effort - people like Chuck Jannink, who felt helpless as he watched the devastation on TV.
"There had to be something all of us could do. So I did a Google search, and Trusted World popped up," he says.
He's been doing heavy lifting at the Garland warehouse every day since, for 12 or 13 hours a day, even making trips to Beaumont to deliver the goods.
"Heartbreak. People's livelihood in their front yards. It'll bring a tear to your eye," he says.
Kemp says volunteers are just getting started, which is why they're hoping more volunteers will answer the call.
"So it's going to take four or five years of us helping these guys recover and giving that long-term love that these brothers and sisters in this community need before they're back on their feet."
Apex Tool Group, who owns this warehouse, donated it for a $1 a month. The plan is to have everything out by November 1. They have already given out about a third of the donations.