UPDATE: Woodlands Online, Sooner Container thank the community for donations

UPDATE:

"The Sooner, the better,” a grassroots community outreach project was initiated in response to the desperate need in Moore, Oklahoma after a devastating tornado tore through the town. Sooner Container in Conroe and Woodlands Online teamed up to collect essential items and truck them up to Oklahoma this week.

Many, many thanks to the community and businesses who teamed together to help make the outreach project a huge success. Pallets of water, along with boxes filled to the brim with toiletries, insect repellent, disposable diapers, wipes, formula, granola bars, baby blankets, cribs and even mattresses filled up an 18 wheeler headed straight to Moore. Adams Transfer & Storage Co. was kind enough to lend a much needed helping hand too; Bobby Adams provided a truck to transport items from Woodlands Online up to Sooner Container. A big thanks to Sooner Container truck driver, Earl Musgrove, accompanied by warehouse team member, Sam Salazar who will deliver the load to a Goodwill distribution warehouse earmarked for the Moore, Oklahoma community.

Thanks to the overwhelming support from the community, supplies for our neighbors to the north are in route. The entire staff and families of Woodlands Online, Sooner Container and Adams Transfer & Storage Co. thank you for the outpouring of donations.

UPDATE:

May 21, 2013: Due to the devastation there’s a lack of storage facilities, so the needs are specific to what they need and can consume on a FIFO (First In, First Out) basis. Specific immediate needs include the following:

• Water, preferably 16 & 20 oz. individual bottles

• Insect repellent and work gloves

• Personal toiletries: toothbrushes and toothpaste, hand sanitizer, soap, deodorant

• Baby items: disposable diapers, wipes, formula

• Food: granola bars, protein bars, individual servings (i.e. meals-ready-to-eat, pop-top single-size)

The items are being collected at Woodlands Online's office at 25211 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 170, Tuesday, May 21 through Thursday, May 23 until 3:00 p.m.. Thursday afternoon the items will be delivered to Sooner Container in Conroe for the long haul north.

Sooner Container will be donating essential containers like Igloo Coolers, 5-gallon buckets, etcetera, and will also be contributing to the needs listed above. Their goal is to fill their 18-wheeler truck with donations from the community by Friday. The truck will depart Friday morning for Moore, Oklahoma.

ORIGINAL STORY:

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- Monday afternoon an EF 4 tornado packing 200 mile-per-hour winds cut a path approximately a mile and a half wide and over twenty miles long through Oklahoma. The town of Moore was directly in its path, and was practically obliterated from the landscape. This morning the death toll has been revised down to 24. Rescue efforts continued through the night, and will intensify at dawn’s early light, as more rescue workers converge on the scene from neighboring states.

It you can’t fathom how wide a one-mile tornado is, ask the IRONMAN competitors how far the last mile of the competition was. When you’re sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway and your exit is one mile away, then you have a good idea of how wide the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado stretched.

Once again, Texans will dig deep down just like they did for West, Texas, and the recent Granbury tornado in Texas. More than likely there were residents of Moore, OK, who probably picked up their cell phones and sent a text to the Red Cross or Salvation Army when they saw the devastation from these two previous disasters. We now have the opportunity to pay it back.

Red Cross

The Red Cross has set up shelters, but said they’re still assessing the greatest needs. In the short term, they ask that you donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund by sending a text message. Text the word REDCROSS to 90999. As in the case with other donations via mobile phone, the donation will show up on your wireless bill. The Red Cross also suggests giving blood at a local hospital or the community blood bank. To donate online go to American Red Cross.

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is organizing disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day.

Supporters can donate online via the organization's website at SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cellphone.

If you want to send a check, the Salvation Army asks that you put the words "Oklahoma Tornado Relief" on the check, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK., 73157. Phone: 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

United Way of Central Oklahoma

A disaster relief fund is being activated as of May 21 so that individuals can specifically donate to tornado relief-and-recovery efforts. Their website states that the best way to help is to make financial contributions. Donations can be made online at United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund is open. Checks, with a notation of "May Tornado Relief" can also be sent to the United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK , 73101.

Feeding America

Through its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America, whose mission is to "feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks," will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to communities in in Oklahoma, and will also "set up additional emergency food and supply distribution sites as they are needed." Phone: 1-800-910-5524.

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Texas is in the top 25 percent of states based on generosity. Reportedly Texans’ charitable contributions total more than $10 billion annually; third in the nation behind more populated areas of California and New York. Over 5 percent is donated per household, and the three major metropolitan areas of Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, rank in the top 20 of the most generous cities. Once again, dig deep down in the heart of Texas, to help our neighbors who are in desperate need.