CEOGC News: CEOGC Aids Hurricane Victims
Posted: Wed, Oct 05, 2005
In the spirit of Community Action, CEOGC staff volunteered their time, gave from their hearts and donated from their homes, to assist the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
CEOGC partnered with Radio One Cleveland to collect donations to benefit the victims of the Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday, September 6, 2005. Radio One Cleveland took the lead on this effort by hosting a 16-hour live broadcast to encourage all of its listeners to make a donation to support the victims of this unimaginable disaster. CEOGC provided staff to assist with the collection of donations from the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
During the broadcast, numerous items were collected including gift cards from gas stations, grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Target, phone cards, and other national retail stores. We also accepted paper goods, toiletries, heat and eat foods, snacks, bottled water, peanut butter and single serve food items not requiring refrigeration. Cash and new or gently used clothing was also accepted. The event took place at the Randall Park Mall. Thirty CEOGC staff (and their family members) pitched-in along with over 100 volunteers.
Midwest Express, in conjunction with CEOGC, successfully delivered 3 busloads of donated goods to the Mississippi Association of Community Action Agencies central parking system facility in Jackson, Mississippi on Thursday, September 8, 2005. The donated goods arrived at approximately 10:30 a.m. A host of local volunteers were there to greet and unload the buses which were packed with food, water, clothing, baby items, and so forth. Midwest Express has agreed to bring any Hurricane Victims back to Cleveland if they have relatives in the area that have agreed to provide temporary housing.
Due to the overwhelming response to the Radio-Thon, as well as in anticipation of the arrival of 500 evacuees to the Cleveland area, CEOGC has partnered with Cleveland C.A.R.E. (Clevelanders Assisting Relief Efforts) to set up a Hurricane Relief Distribution Center in Randall Park Mall. The mall has agreed to provide C.A.R.E. with 3 retail spaces in which to house the excess donated items. Similar to the goods sent to Mississippi, items available include food, water, clothing, furniture, etc.
For further information on donations or hours of operation, please visit the Cleveland C.A.R.E. website at http://www.carecommittee.org/.