PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Pete is one of several locations throughout Pinellas County where members of the community can drop off much needed supplies for hurricane victims.
From clothes, to toys, to pet food, they are accepting everything because, in some cases, people lost everything.
“Literally every hour there are five or 10 or 15 people coming by to drop things off and there is another truck load going out,” said Mike Harting, founder of 3 Daughters Brewing.
Harting felt the devastation personally as his parents’ house took on three feet of water due to the hurricane. He knows there are thousands of other families just like his out there.
“And we decided we were going to collect and send out, so we put a call out to the community, we have a pretty good social media network, and folks started showing up,” said Harting.
One of those who decided to donate a car full of supplies is Danielle Kelley.
“I can really feel the community coming together, already learning names of people that I’ve only known through a smile and a hand wave, so I can really feel the connection coming together. It’s really touching,” said Kelley.
While at Gulfport First United Methodist Church, another drop off center, donations have also been streaming in.
“It means the world that we are all coming together, its part of loving God and loving our neighbor, so I’m just really overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity,” said Pastor Tracey.
The church says more volunteers are needed to keep up with the constant collecting and sorting of donations.
“I want to see more people stepping into the community and coming in and helping because right now I only have one person here,” said Sasha Church.
Those who decided to spend their money and time donating say Pinellas County has been a wonderful place to live and this is just a small way of giving back.
“I just felt in this time of need our community really needs to come together and support each other through this,” said Danielle Wierzbowski.
The county is also collecting supplies specifically for first responders. Those donations can be made at Abundant Life Ministries in Largo and Mission to Serve in Safety Harbor. For more information go to www.lealmanfire.com.
For more information on all Pinellas County drop off locations and times go to www.disaster.pinellas.gov.
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