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Story and Photos by Alice Gerard
Senior Contributing Writer
A tractor-trailer, loaded with 16 pallets of relief donations from Grand Island, began its trip from the Southern Tier town of Fillmore to Boone, North Carolina, on Oct. 7. It began its journey at Grand Island Town Hall two days earlier. The full trailer happened as the result of efforts by three men who live on the same street near Huth Road Elementary School.
Boone is the U.S. headquarters of Samaritan’s Purse, a humanitarian relief agency that is distributing aid to areas in North Carolina that were hard hit by flash flooding as a result of Hurricane Helene. The organization is also sending help to communities in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, according to its website.
Justin Karcher, who is traveling to North Carolina, said the relief effort came together quickly.
“Tuesday morning, I was driving my kiddo to day care,” he said. “My friend, Jonathan Harris, down in the Southern Tier, started this mission at his shop with pallets and spray paint. His company is actually Robin Hood Home Improvements, ironically enough; but this is exactly how he’s been all his life, for the last 20 years I’ve known him. He helps out in the community in whatever way he can. It started out with his construction customers. He has a good reputation down there.
“What happened was one person and then another person started to help and I noticed we really didn’t have anything up here yet. On Tuesday morning, I decided it was time to see what we could do to help out. From there on, it took one text message to my neighbor, Jose Garcia.
“Lastly, alongside Jose Garcia, is Joseph Manzella, another neighbor of ours. He owns Junk King. He has done this before. I picked his brain a little bit. He’s been very helpful, alongside Jose.
Garcia explained, “Justin called me because his friend from Robin Hood Construction in Fillmore had started this hurricane relief drive, and he had volunteered to drive tractor-trailers with a group of other friends to Boone, North Carolina, and deliver the supplies.
“He contacted Justin to see if Grand Island would be interested. Justin, being new to the area, contacted me and said, ‘What do you think about this? Do you think we could do it?’ My answer was, ‘Absolutely. I’d love to participate.’ And then, he called Joe Manzella from the Junk King, who also lives on our street. So, the Junk King said, ‘Absolutely. I’m in.’ I made a phone call to Town Hall and spoke with Rhonda Diehl and explained to her what was going on. Rhonda, being from the South, was very sympathetic to the cause. She got hold of Supervisor (Peter) Marston, who said, ‘Absolutely. Send a message to the board. Make sure we get approval, and Town Hall can be the drop-off site.’
“The point for making Town Hall the drop-off site is we wanted to legitimize this and make people understand that this is a genuine need and a genuine cause. It’s a safe place where people can come and drop things off. They started accepting, and Jim Linenfelser, who is the groundskeeper here, has been helping, boxing, doing everything he can. (It was) a community effort from the town and all the volunteers, and here we are.”
Brancato and Sons Roofing and Siding brought its own trailer, which was loaded with donations for the journey to North Carolina.
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Karcher posted a list of needed supplies on the Grand Ideas for Grand Island Facebook page on the morning of Oct. 2. By the afternoon of Oct. 5, there were 16 pallets’ worth of donations, including cases of water, blankets, diapers and more on the trailer, which bore on it an advertisement of its mission in the form of a truck tattoo.
Before a volunteer crew began loading the trailer, there were four pallets’ worth of donations that had been stored in the lobby of Town Hall.
“Since this morning, there’s been nine more pallets of stuff delivered,” Garcia said early in the afternoon. “Credit to Mr. Marston for jumping in. No bureaucracy, no question. The town rallied behind everybody. Just this morning, we needed pallets. We put out a request on Facebook. The town pitched in, residents came and brought pallets. I’m still getting messages, saying, ‘I have pallets. Pick them up if you want them.’ They really responded fantastically.”
A truck tattoo, a visual reminder of the vehicle’s trip from Grand Island to North Carolina, was designed by Islander Shannon Zaccharia, owner of Popular Graphics.
“She took an idea that I had to sort of draw on our truck so we have some really awesome truck tattoos going down to North Carolina from Grand Island,” Karcher said. “They’re on both sides. Then also, one of my good friends, John Brancato. He’s local here. I texted him this morning, and he was able to show up here with his roofing crew, who is here helping me load up the trailer. I could not have done it without them.
“This trailer load here … we’re going to finish everything up at 4 o’clock today, and then it’s headed down to Fillmore to gather any extra items that they have collected. Then, on Monday morning, they are headed down to Boone, North Carolina, directly to Samaritan’s Purse. They have the manpower down there to deliver these goods on foot to people who need them right away.”
The trailer is “going to advertise (Grand Island) the whole way there. So, maybe, the other towns will pick up the lead, follow up and make sure these people don’t go without,” Karcher said.
“We’ve got to give a shout-out to this roofing company,” Marston said. “They just showed up today. They brought stuff. Brancato and Sons Roofing and Siding. They brought things that they are taking themselves, and they’re helping load the truck because they’re experienced at what they’re doing. We don’t want the load to shift and fall and get damaged. That’s why we want pallets so, when it arrives, they can off load it quickly. People are bringing in piecemeal stuff, so we’re bringing it in in a fashion where we can move it. People are donating their time, their money, buying supplies.”
“We’re locked and loaded and ready to go,” John Brancato explained. When asked when he was planning on heading out, he said, “An hour ago. I heard pizza was coming, so I stuck around.”
After the crew finished the pizza, Brancato’s vehicles departed, heading south.
Manzella said, “I’m just absolutely amazed by how everyone has come together so quickly in such a short period of time. Fourteen pallets on this truck is an absolutely amazing thing, and I think we’re going to have more before we go.”
Marston said this effort represents the best of the community: “It’s not amazing from Grand Island. Grand Island has always been a forthcoming community. They’ve always answered the call.”
Garcia said, “We’re not necessarily surprised by it, but we’re still amazed and thrilled because it was so heartwarming to see it happen. It’s like a Chick Fil-A line. People are pulling up, dropping stuff off, and taking off. It’s just wonderful.”
“We have a total of three separate pallets that were donated from individuals through donations,” Karcher said. “I didn’t even get a chance to meet a couple of them. They just drove off. They unloaded and drove off. Tops and Wegmans have helped out, as well, tremendously.”
“I’m just feeling amazing,” Karcher said. “This exceeded my expectations. Today was just a bonus.”
Overall, 15 trailers began traveling to North Carolina (on Oct. 7) “from all around the Southern Tier,” Karcher said. “Some donations have been brought here and at other, larger locations. That’s how it’s headed. One of our 53-foot trailers was loaded up with water donated from Mayer Cider Mill. They loaded up the entire trailer. One of the trailers is coming straight from them.”
From left: Jose Garcia, Justin Karcher, Joe Manzella and John Brancato in front of the truck, which as tattoo painted by Shannon Zaccharia, owner of Popular Graphics.