Lions seek donations for Hurricane Florence relief

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Hurricane Florence slammed South Eastern North Carolina and parts of South Carolina and Virginia, on Sept. 15 and has been named as one of the wettest storms on record, according to meteorologists. Though it made landfall as a Category 1 its winds still uprooted trees and has caused a widespread of power outages throughout the region.

The hardest part after a hurricane is the clean up process and picking up the pieces of the damage caused by it, said Sue Piccolo, district governor of the Lions Club District 20-K2 Nassau County and Bermuda.

Similar to when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria devastated Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas, the Lions Club has sprung into action to provide relief for North Carolinians. Last year, the club transported approximately 220,000 pounds of donations to Texas, 15,000 pounds of donations to Puerto Rico and over $2000 in Home Depot gift certificates to Florida. In the wake of Florence’s devastation, Piccolo has hopes they can do the same amount of donations or more with the help of the greater Nassau County community.

Donations of water, cleaning supplies, brooms, mops, bleach, chain saws and etc will be collected at the Cop Shop at 560 Broadway, Massapequa. The Lions Clubs district will include members from the Baldwin and Freeport Clubs too.

Lions Club member and Freeporter, Sharon Moskowitz has plans of spending next Saturday at the Cop Shop helping sort and box community donations.

“They have been there for us and we have to be there for them,” Moskowitz said. “That area rallied for us when we were in need after [Hurricane] Sandy. We want to be there for them too.”

Once the trucks are filled to the brim, they will head tto a warehouse in Smithfield, N.C. approximately 45 minutes to an hour from South Eastern North Carolina — Wilmington, Burgaw, Wallace, Rose Hill, Jacksonville, Topsoil Island and other surrounding towns and communities. From there the relief supplies will be distributed to the communities in need.

“We want to hit the areas with supplies that the Red Cross may not get to right away,” Piccolo said.

The Cop Shop will accept donations for the next 10 days and will have boxes set up for evening drop offs. For more information call Sue Piccolo at 516-541-7544.