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Utahns step up to collect and transport donations to Harvey victims

Posted at 5:54 PM, Aug 30, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-30 19:54:16-04

SOUTH JORDAN – A South Jordan woman is rallying her neighbors to help Hurricane Harvey victims.

Watching the catastrophic flooding caused by Harvey in Texas on TV, Ros Fielding could no longer sit back and do nothing to help her old hometown.

“The scope is so huge," she said. "It's unreal.”

She’s been keeping tabs on family and friends on social media. Thankfully, they’re all OK, but with waters now receding, they’ll have a lot to clean up.

Fielding roped in her next door neighbor, Hiroko Jolley, to join her on a 24-hour road trip to Houston to lend a hand.

“We both got on the phone and all of a sudden it was, 'Do you want to come with me? I think I should go' and I said, 'Yeah! I think I will,'" Jolley said.

They took to Facebook, asking for donations to help with the clean-up effort.

“Right now the main items are shovels, dry wall saws, because they're gonna have to cut out all that wet dry wall, tarps, rubber boots and totes to put stuff in, and laundry detergent,” Fielding said.

They’ve cleaned out a trailer to make room for all the donations.

“Even if it's a tote, one tote, one case of tuna, one anything helps,” Fielding said.

Neighbors have been stepping up. They’ve dropped off everything from AC units to bleach, paper towels to baby wipes,  and even money for gas and food.

“I had the opportunity to be down to Hurricane Katrina with Utah National Guard for about 30 days, and that was a very humbling experience to see how people's lives were devastated,” said Derek Tolman, a South Jordan resident.

The friends have worked closely with local leaders, churches, and shelters to ensure the donations end up in the right hands.

Donations should be dropped off by Thursday, August 31  at noon.

Click here for a list of items and drop off location.