Truckload of supplies headed for Mississippi
By Turner Walston
Published in News on September 21, 2005 1:52 PM
A tractor-trailer full of supplies for Hurricane Katrina victims left Wayne County Tuesday and was expected to arrive at a staging center in Jackson, Miss. today. There, the items will be dispersed among several aid agencies.
Over the past ten days, volunteers accepted donations of items such as food, water, toiletries and clothing to fill the trailer. Cash donations were accepted for fuel for the 825-mile trip.
Donated by Horne Moving Systems, the 53-foot-long trailer stopped at Case Farms, where employees donated seven pallets of clothes and food.
"We're humbled by what happened down there, and it was the littlest thing we could do to help," said Steven Johnson, human resources director at Case Farms. "There's a lot of good people here with good hearts." Johnson said Delores Darden spearheaded the effort. He said the company was gathering items for victims and needed a way to get them to the Gulf.
"When we saw that opportunity," Johnson said of the Houser effort, "that looked like just the perfect fit,"
Deane Bernel of Houser Associates was one of the drive's organizers.
"So many people volunteered," Mrs. Bernel said. "I'm excited to see that it's going to make a difference."
Deacon Jones Ford Lincoln Mercury, Toyota of Goldsboro and Houser Associates donated money for fuel, while Horne Moving Systems contributed the trailer and boxes. Donations and volunteers also came from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Brooklyn Pizzeria donated lunch for volunteers.