Moultrie extends helping hand to hurricane evacuees
Published 10:32 pm Friday, October 11, 2024
Courtesy of Caroline Barber Evacuees from Hurricane Milton are staying at the City's Spence Field campground. There were 135 spaces occupied out of the 300 available.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer Caroline Barber, executive director of the Moultrie Convention and Visitors Bureau, left, gives evacuee Liz Vos a donation that was made by a local business owner and distributed to the evacuees at Spence Field. Barber organized and spearheaded the relief effort.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer A tent was set-up at the City's Spence Field campground to house items that were donated and distributed to evacuees from Hurricane Milton.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer Whitney Chitty and her daughter Halle came with donations of food, water and paper products that had been donated at Whitney's office. This was only a portion of the donations that were made at her office.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer The Downtown Merchants Association sponsored bounce houses to be set-up at the Spence Field campground to entertain the children staying there.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer Young evacuee Nahiara Perez, 2, found a bubble blowing toy to play with in the donation tent. Coloring books, crayons and other things were also dropped-off to entertain the children.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer Heritage Church sponsored the Dalton's restaurant food truck to set-up at the Spence Field campground to pass out meals to evacuees.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer Evacuee June Brown and her husband, Jerry, came up from South Central Florida with their dog, Charlie, who was happy to pose for a photo.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer From the left, Charlie and Bob Patel deliver pizzas to the Spence Field campground for the evacuees. They and the other owners of the Fastrac, Amoco, Shell and Exxon stations donated the pizzas.
Adelia Ladson/The Moultrie Observer From the left, Charlie, Sam and Bob Patel unload pizzas that they and the other owners of the Fastrac, Amoco, Shell and Exxon stations donated.
MOULTRIE — Moultrie residents have a long history of stepping in to lend a hand when there is a need within the community. Now residents have extended their hands to their Florida neighbors, who have fled from Hurricane Milton.
On Thursday, there were 135 spaces occupied, out of the 300 available, at the City’s Spence Field campground. Evacuees included families, senior citizens and pets.
Donations of everything from food and water to pet supplies and coloring books were there for the evacuees to help themselves to and the donations kept coming.
Also, onsite was the Dalton’s food truck, giving out meals that were sponsored by Heritage Church. Fastrac, Amoco, Shell and Exxon station owners Sunny Patel, Sam Patel, Remy Patel, Charlie Patel, Bob Patel, Dee Patel, Andy Patel and Mitt Patel bought and delivered pizzas to the campground. Another resident showed-up with chicken biscuits from Chick-fil-A.
In the midst of all of this was Caroline Barber, executive director of the Moultrie Convention and Visitors Bureau, organizing the donations and spearheading the relief effort.
Amy Johnson, president of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority, said Barber had gone out to the campground Wednesday to bring city maps to the evacuees and see if they needed anything.
After seeing the number of evacuees and their situations, Johnson said Barber called her and said, “We’ve got to do something.” Johnson said that Barber had just driven an elderly couple from the campground to Walgreens to get medication when she made the call.
This set off a chain reaction where City Manager Pete Dillard and city staff started coordinating relief efforts for the evacuees. Dillard mades an appeal on Facebook for local churches to open their Wednesday night services and suppers to the Hurricane Milton evacuees.
“It’s community coming together to support neighbors,” Barber said.
She said that she has received a steady stream of calls and messages from residents who wanted to help.
“The theme is ‘Let me know what you need and we’ll get for you,’” she said.
Barber also said that some of the evacuees that she spoke to were so grateful for the relief the community was providing and seemed to be remarkably positive and upbeat, despite having to leave their homes.
June Brown and her husband, Jerry, came up from South Central Florida with their dog, Charlie, and she said, “We were so displaced. We really appreciate the hospitality.”
Whitney Chitty coordinated donations that were dropped off at her office and brought them to Spence Field and distributed them. She said she had much more, still at her office, to bring.
Dee Patel, owner of Andy’s Package Store, gave Johnson and Barber envelopes, which each held $40, to be distributed out to the evacuees for gas money. A total of $400 was given out.
Liz Vos, who came up from Deland, Florida, was one of the recipients of the envelopes and she said, getting a little emotional, “I really appreciate everyone’s kindness and support.”
The Downtown Merchants Association sponsored bounce houses to entertain the children staying at the campground and it looked like it was fully appreciated as children bounced around inside of them.
There were many, many others including churches, businesses and organizations that reached out with donations and support throughout Wednesday and Thursday, aside from the few mentioned above. Barber wanted to let all know that she was very thankful and so were the people who had been displaced from their homes.
Curtis Perez of Haines City, Florida, who was with his young daughters, said that they had arrived Tuesday and they really appreciated everything that had been done for them.
Barber posted on her personal Facebook page a message to the community, “Thank you for living up to one of the things we’re known for – Southern Hospitality. … This is what Moultrie is all about. Helping those in times of need.”
