Photo By Sgt. Liem Huynh | Pfc. Carlos Franco (left) and Spc. Gilbert Mefford, cannon crewmembers assigned to the...... read more read more
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ORANGE, Texas – Under the blistering Texas sun, thousands of survivors of Hurricane Harvey flock to a small shopping center parking lot. An oasis in the heat, they know that once they arrive, they’ll be taken care of.
Soldiers with the Texas and Louisiana National Guard worked alongside civilians to provide life-sustaining supplies to victims of Hurricane Harvey at a Point of Distribution (POD) in Orange, Texas, Sept. 2, 2017.
As Soldiers arrived in the late hours of Sept. 1 to establish the POD they were met by thousands that needed help and volunteers from across the country who had come to provide just that.
With much to do and many already waiting by for relief, the first major obstacle was to establish boundaries and get the donations organized in order to distribute them to those in need.
“First we built a footprint and cleaned up all the trash,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Bratton, a Ruston, Louisiana native assigned as a Combat Engineer to the Louisiana National Guard 769th Brigade Support Battalion. “Then we got with the volunteers to create priorities of work and moved the donations away from traffic to get them organized to be handed out.”
Many volunteers have been in the area for days, but didn’t have the means to organize and control the overwhelming flow of traffic or provide all the supplies needed for so many that had lost everything.
“The biggest thing has been communication and keeping things moving,” said Bratton. “They’re doing a great job and matter of fact, every 24 seconds we are sending someone out the gate with a car full [of food, water and ice].”
The Guardsmen were quick to begin controlling traffic flow and handing out supplies to those in need.
They were met with help from volunteers from across the country who came to aid in everything from feeding the hungry to providing free veterinary care for rescued animals.
Robert T. Simmons, a firefighter and native of Botetourt County, Virginia and his family drove over 1,000 miles to help, bringing personally-owned Humvees and swift water boats.
After days of conducting water extractions of stranded victims of Hurricane Harvey, Simmons and his family stood side-by-side with the Guardsmen and loaded cases of Meals-Ready-To-Eat, ice and water into the cars of victims funneling through the distribution line.
“The military are the most organized force down here,” said Simmons.
The POD also provided hot meals to victims as their cars were loaded with supplies. Local volunteers and church groups from around the country came together to prepare, cook and distribute over 8,000 meals at the POD since Sept. 1.
“This isn’t our first time doing this. Everyone here survived [Hurricane] Katrina and we know what it’s like to be on this side of things,” said Bill Dorchert, a native of Slidell, Louisiana and hot meal provider at the POD site.
“Working with [the military] has been great,” said Dorchert. “these guys are incredible and they’re taking care of everything.”
As food supplies fluctuated, a hero emerged in the form of Orange, Texas local Gary P. Hale, the store manager of Market Basket grocery store located within the shopping center the POD was formed at.
Hale, whose store wasn’t damaged, opened his doors as soon as he was rescued from his own residence.
“What’s mine is theirs,” said Hale. “It’s not about how much stuff costs, that doesn’t matter; I gave the people what they needed because they were feeding all of the people.”
Hale began by providing food to the firefighters who rescued him and to the police evacuating victims to the POD. He then heard that the ‘Cajun Navy’ (volunteers using their own boats to rescue victims) had also been without food for days and began to offer them food as well.
“Since 1962 the Market Basket motto has been “Our customers are our family” and we go by that,” said Hale.
Hale has continued to give to those in need, providing thousands of pounds of food to the volunteers making hot meals and also opened his doors to the Soldiers to provide them a cool, safe place to sleep.
“Whenever we’ve needed something the people here have helped us and us them,” said Spc. John A. Enejosa, a Lafayette, Louisiana native assigned as a wheeled vehicle mechanic to the Louisiana National Guard 769th Brigade Engineer Battalion.
As the POD is growing to also accommodate more rescued animals, the Texas and Louisiana National Guardsmen are working around the clock with the volunteers as they come together to provide the much needed relief to those in Orange, Texas.
| Date Taken: | 09.02.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.02.2017 21:22 |
| Story ID: | 247040 |
| Location: | ORANGE, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 107 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Feeding the Hungry on a United Front, by SSG Jessica Nassirian, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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