Nonprofits get excess of some items, other needs unmet. Here’s how to give to Eastern Ky.
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Those who donate items to Kentucky flood relief efforts are often well intentioned, but sometimes product excesses can create issues locally while leaving other needs unmet.
“Many folks who donate don’t necessarily realize the unintended consequences of doing so. For example, it might prevent schools from opening on time, there could be financial costs to the local community that’s already had pretty significant economic hardships as a result of the disaster,” Damian Morales, manager of disaster recovery at global nonprofit Good360 said.
Mass flooding caused at least 39 deaths and destroyed nearly 1,400 homes, according to preliminary American Red Cross reports, in Eastern Kentucky in late July, leaving victims seeking temporary housing and emergency supplies.
The Herald-Leader spoke with people from three organizations on the ground in Eastern Kentucky helping with recovery efforts about what’s currently needed. Here’s what to know about donating to flood relief efforts at this point in the disaster recovery.
How to give constructively to Eastern Kentucky
One foolproof way to give something that will be used to fill current needs is to make monetary donations, Morales said.
“In terms of preventing what we call the disaster after the disaster, which is the unsolicited goods … we really encourage donations of money to locally vetted nonprofits, because those nonprofits can use that funding to purchase product locally, which helps to reinvigorate local economy, which is often negatively impacted post-disaster,” Morales said.
Some local relief efforts have received an excess of used clothing and hand sanitizer, Morales said. While most nonprofits don’t accept used clothing, it’s a common item people think to donate.
County Line Community Church is one organization that’s received too much used clothing. Senior Pastor Anthony Mullins said the only clothing the church is accepting is new items that can be directly distributed to a family.
“We stopped collecting clothing. We’ve got such an abundance,” Mullins said. “I think that’s the first thing that people want to donate, because all of us have such an abundance of that at all our homes. So we have so much of that in the region right now that it’s just overwhelming to everybody.”
County Line Community Church has provided assistance to flood victims from across the region with everything from evacuations to temporary housing and material needs.
“What we’ve been doing here is we’ve been cooking hot meals, we have been handing out water, cleaning supplies, toiletries, clothing, wheelbarrows, buckets, shovels, anything that these families would need,” Mullins said.
While the church isn’t seeking used clothing donations, there are plenty of items you can still donate to the flood relief center. Mullins said some of those items include monetary donations, gift cards, toothbrushes and toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels, bathing items and more.
This isn’t the first time Kentucky nonprofits have received too much of some items while having unmet needs in other areas.
“We do recognize that in Eastern Kentucky, a lot of communities are already receiving excess product that they don’t need, and that they haven’t asked for, and that’s becoming problematic,” Morales said. “We saw something similar in Western Kentucky in response to the tornadoes of December of last year.”
Good360 has an Eastern Kentucky landing page on its website where a list of current needs is posted. The list was last updated Aug. 23 as of Monday, and the organization is working with Kentucky Emergency Management and Kentucky Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster to assess the most pressing needs. Here are some of the items in demand:
Building materials, flooring, roofing, tools, furnishing/appliances
Mold remediation products such as Tyvek suits (sizes L and XL), pump sprayers, industrial fans, box fans, dehumidifiers, extension cords
Cleanup materials like wheelbarrows, push brooms, mops, brushes, sponges, rakes, buckets, tools and shovels, multipurpose cleaners
Flashlights, battery or solar-powered indoor lamps, headlamps
Mattresses, mattress toppers, air mattresses, new women’s and men’s shoes, new towels, washcloths and hand towels, new pillows, blankets and sheets
Laundry detergent, baby bathing items, baby formula, personal care items, dog and cat food
Tents, sleeping bags, camp showers, propane heaters, grills, blankets, coolers
Chloe Forman, global response manager with nonprofit All Hands and Hearts, said another item people are in need of is menstrual products. AHAH has been working in Eastern Kentucky since early in the disaster, and the organization is currently seeking local volunteers through Sept. 29.
“We were fortunate enough to get on the ground pretty early, just as the floodwaters were receding and they were finishing search and rescue, and got volunteers with boots on the ground pretty quickly after that,” Forman said.
Mucking and gutting are the primary tasks that need to be done, but Forman said volunteers do not need to have specific labor experience to help out.
“There is a massive, massive need and the need is really, really widespread so I think as far as the community goes, there’s going to be, you know, months and years of recovery in general,” Forman said. “For us, I think it’s about trying to understand what the community needs and how we can have the biggest impact in the time that we’re here with the funding that we have.”
There are also volunteer opportunities that are less physically demanding than mucking and gutting. Volunteer information is available online at All Hands and Hearts.
“There is a lot of need here, so anybody who wants to lend a hand, there are lots of ways to do it,” Forman said.
Where can you make monetary donations?
Monetary donations can be made online to a number of nonprofit organizations working on flood relief. Here are some of the efforts accepting online donations at this time:
Please reach out to mhoward@bnd.com with information about additional nonprofit organizations seeking donations for flood relief in Eastern Kentucky.
Do you have a question about recovery in Kentucky for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.
This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
