Contributed
The Elizabethtown Rotary Club met for the last time this year to hear about ways to assist hurricane victims still in need. United Way of Bladen County received a grant through the Lumber River Council of Government after Hurricane Florence to help with recovery efforts from Hurricane Florence. The non-profit group hired Amy Huggins as a site coordinator and five others to assist with the recovery efforts for one year.
Huggins spoke to the civic group about the Distribution Center located at 108 S. Cypress Street in Elizabethtown. She said volunteers helped to distribute supplies and food to those in need just after Hurricane Florence left Bladen County. After the Distribution Center closed to the public, Huggins said she went out to see what the needs were in Bladen County.
She said when she went to Kelly, “You could smell stagnate water and mold. It looked like wall paper only it was mold.”
There are 420 families who are still displaced in Bladen County, according to Huggins. There are still great needs in Bladen County because families are still displaced and there are Bladen County residents without homes.
There is a distribution center in downtown Kelly as well in the community building. The community recently received funding for nine employees to help with the center in Kelly. Pastor William Corbett is coordinator with the Kelly distribution center. Their warehouse is empty, according to Huggins. The needs for the Kelly center are toothpaste, soap, other toiletries, furniture and other supplies.
The Distribution Center in Elizabethtown is a acting now as a warehouse storing items like beds and furniture. If anyone has any items to donate that would help rebuild a home, the Distribution Center is accepting donations.
Huggins reported, “We are out in the field now with boots on the ground.”
The goal is to have a long-term recovery team in place by the next storm. Huggins said they have organized a group and elected officers of the team last week.
If you had any damage due to the hurricane, register with FEMA today.
“We have a lot of resources for counseling,” Huggins said.
If you would like to contact the distribution center call 910-862-7811.
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