Los Angeles wildfire victims to get quite a care package from the people of Summit, N.J.
SUMMIT, N.J. -- A community in New Jersey is coming together in a grassroots way to help the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires.
Inside Andrea Vasady-Kovacs' Summit garage on Wednesday was a mountain of supplies waiting to be shipped out.
"We've got everything very well labeled," Vasady-Kovacs said.
She said she came up with the idea last week to collect new bedding, toiletries, and new and gently-used clothing and send it to people in Los Angeles who lost everything to the fires.
A different kind of plan
With the help of social media, hundreds of bags had been dropped off by the weekend. An army of friends, strangers and local teenagers showed up to help sort it all.
Charitable groups in Southern California have been swamped with donations -- some unwanted. This plan, however, is different.
"We were very picky about what we took. We wanted to make sure that we were getting these families in need things that they would want and something that I would give my friend if they were in a time of need," Summit resident Leslie Flax said.
The group in New Jersey connected with a small, woman-owned business in Los Angeles, which will handle the distribution.
"They are setting up a shop. Then people from the community are going to be able to come shop all the amazing goods that we have gotten donated by our local Summit community," resident Samantha Moriarty said.
- Read more: California wildfires victims getting plenty of help from New York and New Jersey businesses
Local freight company to the rescue
In all, about 200 large bags and boxes were ready Wednesday ready to ship. The tricky part, at least initially, was figuring out how to get all of them across the country. Luckily, though, a local freight company stepped in and offered to ship all of it out to Los Angeles for free.
The first shipment will be picked up Thursday and should arrive in Los Angeles next week.
"I mean, the outpour of help and everyone wanting to help is just incredible," Vasady-Kovacs said.
The hope is it was the first of many shipments from Summit to Los Angeles.