Elks collecting donations for Kentucky tornado victims
Dec. 14—The Cullman Elks Lodge is collecting donations of food, water, hygiene products and other supplies for the tornado victims in Kentucky until Thursday evening.
Disaster relief coordinator Gwen Parker said the lodge is looking for non-perishable food items, water, cleaning supplies, toiletries, baby products and more items that the people in the area need after losing their homes in the tornado.
R.E. Garrison donated the use of a truck and trailer and one of their drivers to take the items to Kentucky, and the lodge hopes to have everything ready to go on Friday morning, she said.
Donations can be dropped off with the volunteers at the Elk's Lodge, located at 1609 Brantley Ave NW, from 1-7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. Donations made before or after those hours can still be left under the awning of the building to be sorted once volunteers arrive, Parker said.
She said there had already been several contributions come in as of Tuesday afternoon, including $3,000 in monetary donations, and Pepsi matched a $1,000 purchase of bottled water by the lodge that added up to six pallets that have already been loaded up.
Parker said the Cullman Elks are organizing the effort the Alabama Elks Association and another lodge in Benton, Kentucky, whose members will receive the supplies and make sure they are sent to where they are needed.
This is not the first time that the Elks have organized relief efforts for other places that have suffered from a natural disaster. In 2017, they sent supplies to a lodge Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey — and that lodge repaid the favor by sending money to Cullman after the hailstorm in March of 2018.
Other donation drives have included Hurricane Matthew in South Carolina, as well as the tornado outbreak in Fultondale at the beginning of 2021.
Parker said the lodge's members try to organize supply drives for areas that get hit by storms because they remember what it was like in Cullman after the April 27, 2011 tornado.
"I would want to think that if we were in this situation, others would come here and help us," she said.
The list of needed items includes:
* Money
* Water (bottled and gallons)
* Non-perishable food items
* Baby food, formula, diapers, wipes
* Adult diapers and feminine hygiene products
* Toiletries such as shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, soap, lotions
* First aid supplies such as bandages, wraps, bandaids, Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, cold and allergy meds, etc.
* Blankets, pillows, pillow cases, sheets
* Towels, wash cloths, clothes detergent, fabric softener
* Cleaning supplies such as garbage bags, Clorox, dish detergent, buckets, mops, brooms, cleaning rags
* Pet food, cat litter
* Children's toys, games, cards
