MOUNT CARMEL TOWNSHIP -- Conservation Windows in Mount Carmel is collecting donations for Hurricane Harvey victims.
After seeing the aftermath of hurricanes past and present, it didn't take long for Conservation Windows employee Tammy Leach to be touched by the devastation in Texas from Hurricane Harvey.
"Several years back when Katrina hit and Bloomsburg was affected so bad, I was working in Danville, so I got to see first-hand what had happened," Leach said. "I can't even imagine the magnitude of Texas compared to that."
She works at the manufacturer's plant in Mount Carmel. Many of the company's windows that can stand up to damaging hurricane winds end up in Texas and in Florida. One of their Texas distributors was affected by Hurricane Harvey.
"The employees, they got flooded," Conservation Windows Vice Preside Bill Fanelli said. "They lost cars. They lost their houses, so on and so forth, so we decided we've got to help out. We've got to do something."
Last week, Leach and her boss came up with the idea for a donation drive for Hurricane Harvey victims. This month, the business is collecting supplies, like diapers, toiletries, food and water. They will send them down to Texas by the truck load every week. They've already sent one down.
"My brother was actually down there for the first truck load, he said they're actually swarming the van, waiting in line and crying," Fanelli said. " That's really the emotional part of it."
The manufacturer is hoping the drive will get more people in the area to donate to hurricane victims.
"We're hoping for more," Leach said. "We're hoping for a lot more because they really need it."
Donations can be dropped off at the Regency Plus in Mount Carmel, Perception Learning Center in Pottsville and the Boyer's Markets in Pottsville, Ashland and Mount Carmel.