Local businesses assisted in a local effort to fill a semi-trailer with hurricane relief supplies to help families in hard-hit areas of New York.
Damariscotta Hardware donated several pallets stacked with items requested by local contacts in Long Island, the Rockaways and Staten Island.
The donation included items necessary for clean-up, such as entire pallets of bleach and contractor trash bags, 24 brooms, 72 shovels, 48 squeegees and work gloves; construction, such as dust masks, safety glasses, tarps, utility knives, and work lights; and general items, like air fresheners, flashlights, batteries, and snacks.
Damariscotta Hardware President Rob Gardiner said the proximity of the disaster, which easily could have continued north to Maine, along with the fact that many of the business’s seasonal customers hail from the affected area, contributed to the store’s desire to help.
The television images of families who “lost everything” inspired the business to contribute with what Gardiner called “something small we could do to help them get back on their feet.”
The nature of the effort assured him the supplies “would get right into the hands of the people who need it,” without administrative delays or overhead.
“It was like you were going down and giving it to them yourself,” he said.
Gardiner said he likes the feeling of living in a community of extraordinary generosity, where a grassroots effort, organized overnight, could fill a 53-foot trailer to the point where the organizers had to turn away donations.
“It was a very quick pooling of resources,” he said, adding he was glad to help.
Colby & Gale, Damariscotta Historical Society, Damariscotta-Newcastle Lions Club, Damariscotta-Newcastle Rotary Club, fisherman’s co-ops in New Harbor, Pemaquid Harbor and Round Pond; Hancock Lumber, Kieve-Wavus Education Inc., King Eider’s Pub, Lincoln County Publishing Company, Louis L. Doe Home Center, Mid-Coast Energy Systems, Miles Memorial Hospital League, Muscongus Bay Lobster Company, Northeast Transport, Renys, Rogers Ace Hardware, S. Fernald’s Country Store, Shaw’s Wharf, Wells-Hussey American Legion Post 42, Yankee Pride Transport and Yellowfront Grocery all donated various services or supplies or money to buy them.
The coordinators of the effort, Larry Sidelinger, Russ Williams and Anne Geisler, delivered the supplies to New York the weekend of Nov. 17-18. For more information about their trip and the resilient families, neighborhoods and schools they encountered along the way, see “Hurricane relief mission accomplished” in this edition.