MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A Mercer County-based nonprofit will host a donation drop-off in Morgantown to help those affected by severe flooding in the southern part of the Mountain State.
Bluejay Rising will host ‘Hauling Hope’ on Tuesday, February 25, at the Morgantown Farmers Market Pavilion starting at 8 a.m., where trucks intended to travel to the southern part of West Virginia will be posted until 5 p.m. to accept donations to help those hit by flooding that killed at least three people and caused millions of dollars worth of damage. Volunteer Tyler Simmons will be on hand along with other volunteers who will help take donations to the truck for anyone wishing to help out.
“We’re going to be out at the farmer’s market pavilion there in Morgantown from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and we’re going to be there all day,” said Simmons.
According to Simmons, donations being accepted mainly focus on non-perishable food items and toiletries that have been heavily used as a result of the flooding. This includes paper towels, soap, fresh clothes, and any canned food or easy-to-make food items that would not need the use of utilities. Water was also emphasized despite the flood-affected conditions of the southern part of West Virginia.
“They’re looking for everything that you can think of,” said Simmons. “They got a lot of heaters and stuff in over the weekend, they’re still looking for non-perishables and water, you know, a pallet of water seems like a lot, but when you have a town of 1,200 people, that’s two bottles of water a person, and that goes quick,” he said.
The start of ‘Hauling Hope’ stemmed from conversations with Bluejay Rising founder Zachary Shrewsbury and other volunteers who have assisted in the southern part of the state in recent weeks. This is separate from dozens of other nonprofit organizations from North Central West Virginia all the way down to the state capital who have contributed thousands of man hours and tens of thousands of dollars since word of the devastation rang out.
“This is going to be kind of an ongoing thing,” said Simmons. “So they’re based out of Mercer County, you know we’re all working together, we’re just trying to get this done and we’re going to continue for as long as we have to and keep things going,” he said.
The plan for Bluejay Rising volunteers is to have ‘Hauling Hope’ hosted in other parts of the Mountain State. While Simmons didn’t offer any future dates for donations around the North Central West Virginia region, he did say the organization plans to continue to work with volunteers to take donations down south to help those that need it. With trucks in downtown Morgantown all day Tuesday, Simmons and other volunteers with Bluejay Rising hope you can come down to help.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to do what West Virginians do, we’re going to help each other,” said Simmons. “You know it’s not the governor, it’s not FEMA, it’s a couple of dudes in a U-Haul trucking stuff across the coalfields, man,” he said.