A group in Devine is organizing a donation drive for hurricane evacuees who are staying at hotels in nearby Pearsall.
“I will be accepting donated non-perishable food and hygiene items at the Devine Chamber of Commerce office located at 200 E Hondo in Devine from 3-7 pm. If no one is there when you drop by, feel free to drop off donations at The Devine News office this Tuesday and Thursday as well, and we will get those donations to this group.
“Donations will be taken to Hurricane Harvey evacuees living in the hotels in our neighboring town of Pearsall, TX. Gift cards or gas cards will also be accepted. If you have wanted to assist in any way this is your opportunity to help locally,” said Eliza McGuairt, of Devine.
According to the Pearsall City Manager, about 1,350 people took refuge in Pearsall hotels during Hurricane Harvey, as big cities like San Antonio became overbooked quickly. Most of the evacuees are from Rockport, Corpus Christi and the immediate areas around them.
The Pearsall City Manager thanks all who have helped with this effort, and posted the following message on social media this past Monday, “We still have a large number of evacuees in town and we will be making another delivery to them today. We have plenty of food, water, and clothing to help these people. If you still want to help, we are accepting gift cards at City Hall to be distributed to our new family of evacuees. We have received [gas] cards and [grocery/shopping] cards and those have served a great purpose. What an awesome response to help our neighbors in need!”
Collecting items for emergency responders
Eliza McGuairt, of Devine, will also be collecting items desperately needed by the many first responders trying to help others in areas that were hardest hit.
First responders are in desperate need of socks, athletes foot powder and blister band aids.
