Views of the Neighborhood – Support

~ John W. Howell

This week I thought it would be nice to talk about the support that Port Aransas has been getting from other places around the nation. This week we expect the arrival of a truckload of supplies from Farmington, Minnesota. Farmington residents started a bucket collection in which buckets were filled with donated items.

Here is a photo of the buckets and the caption tells you more.

The city of Farmington has adopted a sister city in Texas and residents are buying buckets of supplies, which will be shipped there on Saturday. For the past two months, Farmington residents, businesses, schools, and churches have come together to raise money and cleaning supplies for Port Aransas, a tourist town hit hard by Hurricane Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast in August. On Wednesday, November 8, 2017, students from Baeckman Middle School filled buckets at Pelicci Ace Hardware store with cleaning supplies with the help of Amanda Stender, General Manager, at the hardware store. A semi-truck at the store is now full of buckets; the truck leaves for Texas Saturday. (Ginger Pinson / Pioneer Press)

The truck arrives on Monday after a 20-hour drive and is loaded with 500 buckets, lumber, windows, and doors.

Last week a former resident of Port Aransas got all his Austin friends together, and they loaded a semi with used furniture and household items.

Donations

Here is a shot of the semi and some of the items

Those are computer monitors and some office furniture.

Another photo of more items. The truck was unloaded, and people were free to come and pick up what they needed.

The Donation Station

In a house that was completely gutted a donation station has been set up. The above photo shows available healthcare items.

Water and cleaning supplies.

Human and pet food.

Shoes.

I had to take a close-up to show that Toms donated some shoes to Port Aransas residents.

Always heartbreaking to realize the little children are involved as well.

To lift the spirit, there are art items.

The former kitchen has kitchen items.

The rules of the donation station and an announcement that the food pantry is open on Tuesday for an hour.

So day to day life in Port Aransas moves on with the help of donations.

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Published by John W. Howell

I have been working in business for over forty years and now have the time to work in special areas of interest. My passion has always been to create compelling stories of fiction. I have authored six novels and am working on my Seventh. The first novel is still in manuscript form and being utilized as a door stop in the laundry room. The second is a contemporary fiction novel of 89,000 words and is complete and I am currently seeking a publisher. I also write poetry but have not had the guts to share any with anyone. The one time I read a piece to a person their only comment was, “it doesn’t rhyme.” I will continue to write and hopefully my blog, Fiction Favorites at www.johnwhowell.com will provide some entertainment and an interesting thought or two. I live in the Austin area with my wife Molly and an assortment of loving pets.

62 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Support”

  1. This is such a heartwarming post, John. In the midst of destruction, the human spirit emerges victorious through generosity and kindness. Thank you for sharing a bit of the heartbeat of Port Aransas with us.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. On this block alone, there were ten more houses just like this one. The folks managed to get all the ruined material out. Most can’t afford to replace what was lost. This house is for sale “as is.”

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  8. This is an uplifting post, John. It’s so good to hear that this kind of spirit is strong and active. These efforts take a long time, but quickly fall from the news cycle. Thanks for keeping us informed.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. It must be weird, having decided to do this as a series. I’m sure you could post pictures of distraction, but you might not want to until there’s an “after” picture available, which could take a long time. Of course, you can always put a picture of Lucy out here 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I believe you’re right there, John – unfortunately. Another example to prove your point: Puerto Rico. Even if that is not a small town like Port A, but a US territory. It’s a sad state of affairs when humanity is cancelled out by political considerations.

        Liked by 1 person

  18. Thank you, John, for recognizing the folks who have helped your community out with donations. Indeed, we’re a nation of big-hearted folks, aren’t we? I know our church did a monetary donation, and I think our state sent down a bunch of volunteers, too. So glad to hear they’re fulfilling a need!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. It does my heart good to see people helping people. There is so much hatred, negativity and evil around that we need to see more posts about good and decent and loving actions to counteract the other! Thanks so much for sharing this post, John.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. How wonderful, John. It’s always great to see so many people come together when help is needed. We hear so many horrible things about the human race, but it has far more good stuff about it as well. I hope Port Aransas is making a strong recovery and will continue to do so.

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