Donations for tornado victims gathered
Residents have multiple opportunities in the next few days to donate items desperately needed by the victims of the devastating tornados in Kentucky.
'Cram-a-Coach'
Campbell Bus Lines is holding “Cram-a-Coach” events in three locations throughout the county.
Storage bins, batteries and flashlights, blankets, feminine hygiene products, undergarments, socks and shoes, bottled water, baby formula, diapers and wipes, and non-perishable food items are being accepted from noon to 8 p.m. Monday in the Sam's Club parking lot at Moraine Pointe Plaza and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Walmart Supercenter on Route 19 in Cranberry Township.
Meredith Yarington, charter manager at Campbell, said the items will be sorted and placed inside one of the company's large coach buses for the 1,200-mile round-trip drive early next week to tornado-torn Kentucky.
“You never really realize what you have until it's gone,” Yarington said. “I see the devastation of these people, and I just can't imagine losing everything.”
She pictures the storage bins and totes that are donated being used by those picking through the rubble of their homes to retrieve precious family photos and keepsakes.“You need something to put those in,” Yarington said.If more items are collected than can fit into one coach, Yarington said another coach will be added to the trip.“We also have a box truck, so if we have to stuff that, we'll do that too,” she said.She said people have been dropping items off at the bus garage on Grove City Road in Slippery Rock, so she expects county residents to come through with a mountain of items for those in Kentucky.“If your heart is telling you to do it, then make it happen,” Yarington said.Donation drive
Grace Community Church in Cranberry Township also has coordinated a donation drive and trip to Kentucky.Cindy Zonts, local outreach director at the church, said tarps and plastic sheeting at least 6 millimeters thick, flashlights and batteries, large storage bins with lids, and personal hygiene and baby care items are being accepted from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday under the white tent at the church at 9160 Marshall Road in Cranberry Township.Zonts said the items will be sorted and loaded into a donated tractor-trailer Sunday for the drive to Kentucky.“We have been in contact with people on the ground in Kentucky and they have told us what their greatest needs are and that is what we're collecting,” she said.In addition, a flatbed truck will haul much-needed construction equipment and products donated by Grace Community Church's partner, Graf Custom Construction of Evans City.“There's nothing available whatsoever down there,” Zonts said of the construction materials.She said the collection will occur simultaneously with the church's 20th anniversary weekend and the celebration of its new auditorium.“It just kind of fits with who we are,” Zonts said of the collection. “It's about the people.”She said the timing of collecting items during the Christmas season could be a challenge, but the church members are up for the task.“It's God's timing, not our timing,” Zonts said.She said those who have spied the white tent, which was donated for the collection by Grand Rental, and know what is going on have visited without fanfare.“We are getting a huge outpouring already with phone calls and emails, and people have already dropped things under the tent,” she said.She said “loving God and serving others” is one of the Grace taglines, and it has never been more fitting.“We're built to care for one another,” Zonts said. “When you hear about a disaster like this, you just want to do what you can do.”
