Volunteers bring supplies, labor to help storm-damaged Griffin

GRIFFIN, Ga. — Volunteers came together in storm-ravaged communities on Monday, including dozens of employees of The Home Depot, who distributed disaster kits and helped with the cleanup.

Before they headed into Griffin’s hard-hit neighborhoods, the employees loaded up nearly 1,000 bright orange buckets filled with supplies.

Each contained garbage bags, paper towels, cleaners, hand sanitizer, scour pads, gloves, and N95 masks.

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Along with the disaster kits, The Home Depot had 19 pallets of water to distribute.

Taforey Anderson is a district manager for The Home Depot.

“It’s a feeling of belonging to a community,” Anderson told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims. “We’re more than just a business, we’re part of the family of the community, and we want to make sure that everyone in the community knows that we’re here to support them.”

The kits and water were hauled to a distribution site, an old warehouse on Solomon Street that belongs to City Church.

Josh Abernathy is the pastor there.

“Everything that’s coming in and everything that’s going out, it’s just a collective effort from so many individuals,” Abernathy said. “It’s just a city coming together.”

Lakeera Favors drove in to load up on supplies.

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She and her children were inside her car when the tornado hit, “and a tree smashed the back of my windshield,” she said.

They were not hurt, but she’s in need of many essentials.

“Tissue, we need flashlights, candles, blankets, water, food,” she said.

Dashawn Foster also came by to pick up a disaster kit and other items.

“Lost my home and my car and all that,” Foster said. “Have to start completely over.”

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Along Ridgeview Drive, dozens of The Home Depot employees spent the day with chainsaws clearing away fallen trees in yards.

Others came too, including Ryan Walker and his family from Canton.

“We’re believers from a church in Canton, and we just knew there was a need and we’re just here to help,” Walker said. “There’s a lot that we can do and a lot that we can’t do, but this is one way we can reach our community.”

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