TEXAS TOWNSHIP-- Thousands in our area are still without power after Hurricane Sandy, including many in Wayne County, but people still came together to help out their neighbors to the east, donating supplies to help those in New Jersey devastated by Sandy.
Bag after bag of clothing, food, cleaning supplies and more were loaded into a tractor-trailer in the Route 6 Plaza near Honesdale.
People brought whatever they could to help those in New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Larry Hopkins and his wife organized the donation drive. They have family in New Jersey affected by the storm.
"I know we have people around here that lost power, but they still have their houses. There`s people down there that don`t have a house to have power in. So it`s just devastating and not something I want to go through, so we just feel for them and want to do whatever we can," said Larry Hopkins of Lebanon Township.
Local businesses donated the tractor-trailer and the Hopkins' spread the word in the community and on Facebook.
Donations soon came pouring in.
"Just looking at the pictures and everything is very devastating and we`re here as a community just to help everyone around New York and New Jersey," said Mary Coar of Honesdale. "I actually have family that lives on Staten Island. They are okay, thank God, so we’re just here to help everyone out as much as we can."
"I saw it, talked to my girlfriend and said let`s get stuff together. We were going to sell a bunch of stuff and instead of selling it, let`s donate it," said Dan Hnatko of White Mills. "My daughter and son donated a couple stuffed animals that they had and toys for the kids. They just said they didn`t need them anymore and they`d rather see someone else have them."
Even first responders brought donations from another disaster.
"We just brought down a bunch of cleaning supplies that we had. Actually they were donated last year for Hurricane Irene," said Chief Tom Derrick with the Waymart fire company. "We had it, we're not using it and we figured it was a good time to get rid of it. Let them use it and hopefully they could put it to good use."
With destruction from Hurricane Irene last year, and power outages and more from Hurricane Sandy, people in this area said they know what those in New York and New Jersey are going through and just how much donations can help.
"Luckily we got spared this time, but they got hit really hard. It just pays to help everybody out," said Hopkins.
"Horrific. There`s not words to explain it. To see where Jersey was before and what it looks like now, it`s just a disaster and my heart goes out to the people trying to get through it out there. It`s going to take a long time to rebuild, and the more people donate, the more stuff that happens, then they`re going to rebuild faster," added Hnatko.
The Hopkins family plans to take the loaded tractor-trailer and head to New Jersey sometime Sunday.
The donations will be dropped off at a shelter in Point Pleasant and distributed to those who need them.