Community gathers supplies for hurricane victims

Hurricane Harvey struck southeast Texas Friday and historic flooding has displaced thousands.

In response, Sidney VFW Post 610, Adams Trucking and Sidney Public Schools, along with Sidney’s businesses, are working together to send needed supplies to the storm victims.

“We are doing a cooperation of gathering supplies,” VFW Cmdr. Stephanie Dadgostar said. “(Adams is) going to do the transportation for us. The school is going to do a food drive and then Tuesday we will start collecting it.”

Adams will have a truck at the fairgrounds Tuesday through Thursday, from 4 to 8 p.m., to collect the donated goods and supplies.

The truck will then depart for Texas on Friday.

Among the items being sought: canned food, hygiene items, nonperishables, medical supplies, new underclothing, including socks and underwear, pet food and kitty litter, blankets and baby items, such as diapers and formula, and first aid supplies.

All items will go directly to the victims, Dadgostar said.

“I have a point of contact down there, an old military buddy,” she said. “It’s going straight to a shelter. It’s not going to staging. It’s not going to hang out somewhere. It’s going straight to the people who really need it.”

Sidney Public Schools is also helping to collect goods, and will take donations during Friday’s football game against Aurora.

“We’re gathering nonperishables and canned foods, and we have a list of other items. Toiletries, baby items, first aid kits,” Shelby Price, SHS attendance secretary, said. “We’ll have a truck with a VFW sign on it and we will be gathering items in that truck and delivering it to the fairgrounds next week.”

She added, “They can bring it to the track Friday during the game, and it will be there from 5 p.m. until the end of the game.”

Parents and students will then package the items for Adams Trucking.

“It’s a great thing,” Price said. “We need to step it up.”

Dadgostar and her fellow VFW members were inspired to act by the news coming out of the flooded cities and surrounding areas.

“I was sitting there watching this tragedy happening and it’s an act of God,” she said. “Whoever thought there’s going to be this much water dumped on this poor city? And I felt helpless, like I couldn’t do anything about it. But then I’m like, we can do something about it. That’s what we’re here for. That’s why we exist.”

The community’s generosity heartening, Dadgostar said.

“It’s great. That’s why I moved back here. That’s why I love this town. This town is all about coming together in the hard times,” she said. “We’re going through some hard times ourselves, but I think this effort will bring us together as a community and make us see how much we take for granted.”

She added, “We have all the things we need to survive. They don’t.”

More information about the relief effort can be found http://www.facebook.com/VFW610/.