Morristown residents opened their attics and their wallets today, June 4, providing enough clothes, food, cleaning supplies and toys to just about fill two 38-foot-long UPS trailers.
The relief effort for Alabama tornado survivors continues until 4 pm, so there still is time to donate items or lend some muscle to the loading operation behind town hall.
(Volunteers need more packing tape, if you happen to have any!)
“What I sold UPS on is absolutely true–we have a really good community here with a lot of heart, and people were willing to pitch in if they knew there was a relief effort going on for the people in Alabama…I’m very appreciative for everyone coming out and making this a reality,” Berit Ollestad, the Morristown resident who organized the drive, said amidst a flurry of packing, taping and hoisting.
Dr. Pepper, Whitson’s Culinary Group and Impact Lives of Minnesota worked with two Rockaway schools to provide 46,000 meal packets.
The rest of the bounty was supplied by area residents.
Some of the items had been stored outside Berit’s house; she said two police officers awakened her last night (she has been camping in a tent to publicize the relief drive) to alert her about a report of a possible theft of relief items. Details were sketchy this afternoon.
On a brighter note, the band Nick Dickey gave a solid performance on short notice Friday night at Berit’s place to get the relief drive off to a good start. The band consists of Ben Rhodes, Alex Dickey, Ryan Nally and David Dones.
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