Nonprofit prepping emergency buckets as hurricanes batter Southeast
By Meredith Bruckner
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DETROIT (WWJ) — Disaster Relief at Work (DRAW) has been assembling emergency buckets for more than a decade.
The buckets are tailored to contain exactly what residents need to clean up after a severe storm, and most of the items are donations.
“We put the word out and people were very generous, and we had an entire table full top to bottom,” said DRAW warehouse operations manager Kris Schmidt. “A lot of it was just in time for what we did today in building the buckets.”
Greg Martin, the executive director of DRAW, said partners on the ground receiving this next shipment in Brevard, North Carolina, were grateful to hear what they’d be receiving.
“We told them, the cleaning supplies we’re sending, the tarps that we’re sending – all this stuff for cleanup. And the woman started to cry,” said Martin. “Because they had been getting so much food, they have an overwhelming amount of food, and they don’t know what to do with it all, and they were like, ‘That’s actually the stuff that we need.'”
Volunteer Bruce McCallum owns a house in North Port, Florida, with his wife.
He said it was right in Hurricane Milton’s path.
“We’re very nervous,” said McCallum. “We had also been hit during Ian. And Greg’s team, DRAW, provided us with supplies and really helped us to tarp our roof and pull down ceilings and such, and it was such a fantastic assistance for us. What their team does is just awesome.”
“To see the number of people that have responded to our efforts, and come alongside, and volunteered and supported and collected supplies for us – it’s a little overwhelming to see that you’re part of such a big thing,” said Martin.
On Saturday, volunteers will be back at the warehouse to pack new buckets to be sent down to Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
DRAW’s website lists items people can donate to help areas impacted by natural disasters.
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