LABOR OF LOVE
HOW DELCO IS OPENING ITS HEART TO HELP PEOPLE & ANIMALS IN WAKE OF HURRICANE
“Obviously, when there’s a disaster, you need everyone on board in Delaware County or across the country.” — Sgt. Joseph Duffy of the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department
In the wake of the destruction of Hurricane Harvey, the tragic devastation has made way for a multitude of stories of generosity and kindness as Delaware Countians come together to do what they do best – open their hearts for people in need.
From the tractor-trailer load of diapers and supplies in Ridley on its way to Texas, to dental supplies being collected in Media, to another collection site in Marcus Hook, county residents are looking for any and all avenues for how to help those hit hard by the storm.
“People in Delaware County come together constantly to help each other,” said Sgt. Joseph Duffy of the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department. “If we could, we’d send 5,000 of us out there to help clean up. Obviously, when there’s a disaster, you need everyone on board in Delaware County or across the country.”
The full impact of the hurricane won’t be known for some time, although early estimates have reported that at least 50 people died in the wake of Harvey and thousands were displaced, many of whom are living in shelters. AccuWeather officials predicated that Harvey’s impact to the nation’s gross national product will be $190 million.
Within days after the storm, people here prepared to go to the storm area – and with the help of countless others, they’re not going empty handed, but with tons of needed basic items, from water to food and clothing, to diapers and dental supplies.
Down in Marcus Hook, Nickson Home Services at 418 Market St. has become a collection site for everything and anything for Texas.
“What we’re doing,” owner John Nickson Jr. said, “every time we get a complete truck load, we send a complete truck load out.”
He got the idea from his son, John III, who started his freshman year at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, about an hour and a half away from Houston.
“I was actually down there with my son when it started happening,” Nickson said. “We woke up to tornado warnings on our phone.”
And although College Station is fine, students from Corpus Christi were arriving to have a place to stay for a while – and the younger Nickson wanted to help.
His mom, Beth Hughes,
said he asked what they could do, so they started to collect clothing, shoes, blankets, non-perishable food items, batteries, flashlights, personal and feminine hygiene items, baby care items, diapers, formula, baby food and pet food.
Hughes said it’s “just to help someone, anyone, to help them to be able to have a little bit of a sense of hope. We want them to have hope that they will recover from this and they will come back stronger.”
She said she is working with Texas A &M’s Freshman Leaders Advancing in Service and Honor to direct the items to areas of greatest need.
Nickson said he’s accepting donations 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, just not on Labor Day.
“I plan on going and buying a hundred cases of water myself,” he said.
He’s also getting some help from the nearby Monroe Energy refinery in Trainer where members of the United Steelworkers Union Local 10-234 are gathering items to send his way.
“People are hurting,” said Jonas Dauber, president of the USW 10-234. “You see it on the TV, people are hurting. Just got to help out.”
Nickson understood that mindset.
“It’s devastating,” he said. “These people are losing everything.”
And that’s why he’s doing what he’s doing.
“I just wanted people to have an avenue if they wanted to help out, we’d do anything we can to make it happen,” he said. “We’ll take anything and everything out.”
Over in Media, the Media Dental Associates at 511 N. Providence Road are accepting donations of new and gently used adult and children’s clothing, household items, toys, diapers and infant care items and canned foods through Friday, Sept. 18.
“I would personally love to go down there, (but) I can’t leave,” Dr. Jay Gohel said. “Whatever I can do, I want to do. Whatever we can do, every little bit matters.”
He has family members in that area of Texas.
“We’ve got more than 50 family there,” he said. “We were a little bit more fortunate than a lot of people. Most of them are in their homes. We only had one family that had to evacuate. More than 200,000 people lost their homes right now.”
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia had a special collection this Sunday for the hurricane victims and they are planning to send personnel to Texas soon.
“Typically, in a scenario such as this one Catholic Charities USA mobilizes various relief efforts on a nationwide scale and asks for participation from dioceses throughout the country,” said Kenneth A. Gavin, director of communications for the archdiocese, said. “Right now, we are in a preparation pattern and we expect outreach for CCUSA in the next few days.”
A team of four left Providence Animal Center in Upper Providence Friday afternoon for 38 cats and dogs from Corpus Christi, Texas, where they had been in flooded conditions for three days.
The team returned early Saturday morning and the animals are anticipated to be available for adoption soon.
Center officials said they will return to retrieve more animals from the storm area as soon as space at the Delaware County shelter opens.
On Saturday, a FirpoHeritage Moving Systems tractor-trailer left Holmes with a police escort headed to the Texas Diaper Bank, all thanks to what began as impromptu collection by Mike McIntyre of Proaction Restoration Inc.
McIntyre’s crew of 12 is headed to Texas to begin a month of restoration work on homes there. He thought he’d put out a request for diapers and they’d take a few. Within hours, droves of people began dropping off items.
“Everybody wants to help,” Delaware County Sheriff Mary McFall Hopper said as six deputies unloaded their collection at the Holmes business Friday. “They’re just trying to figure out how they can do it.”
In her office, the drive was spearheaded by Duffy.
“Helping with something like this, there’s just no better feeling,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”
With close to $500 in donations and diapers, wipes and clothes, many in his department did what they could.
“My wife was up all night,” he said of his spouse, Kimberly. “She didn’t sleep last night, she went through all of our old baby clothes.”
There were many similar stories at the Amosland Road business.
“One of the things that got me yesterday was that these young kids showed up,” McIntyre said. “These kids came up and (Gerard Turner) said a lot of these kids don’t have fathers or they’re not involved and they brought water up and they didn’t have the money to do it. It was amazing. It got me, it got me.”
Turner is involved with Uncle Lou’s Basketball League in Darby Borough, where 70 kids pay $12 to play in the league. He said they come from Sharon Hill and Collingdale and some even walk 2 miles just to play.
He and Oliver Hawkins shared how they told the youth while they were playing a game of hoops.
“They stopped the game and they came in and got in the car with us,” Hawkins said. “It meant a lot – they can actually stop something like that to do something like this, it shows that they actually know what they want in their life and they’re trying to do something positive.”
Nearby, Daniel Garrity of Secane took a break from helping to load the truck Friday.
One of the dozen going down to Texas on McIntyre’s crews, it was a little overwhelming to see.
“We never expected anything this big,” he said. “It’s so unreal. It brings your faith back in humanity. It’s heartwarming. It feels good to be a part of it.”
The truck driver, Paul Imburgia, explained how this ride was unique.
“I’ve done long drives like that before for work reasons but this is different,” he said. “You’re not going down there to collect a check. You’re going down there to save people’s lives basically.”
Many said they would repeat exactly what they did to help whomever they could – and they hoped they’d get the chance.
“I wish we could do more,” Hopper said. “However we could help out, we’d love to figure out other things we could do ... It’s not just an immediate need that they’re going to have. They’re going to have needs going forward. So, we’ll keep an eye out and see what we can do in the future, not just in the next week.”