By Robert Beagle

Dozens of volunteers of the Church World Service Ohio gathered Thursday night to package and send cleaning supplies to residents on the East coast still struggling with not only the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, but also the recent nor’easter that only added to issues on the coast.

The Church World Service Ohio is an organization made up of 37 denominations, who respond to domestic and international disasters. The group was founded after there were post-war food shortages in Europe after World War II. They gathered from churches all across southern Ohio to Eaton Church of Brethren to aid in post-storm efforts.

Volunteers filled hundreds of buckets with cleanup supplies to be sent to the nearest disaster area. Each bucket contained about 15 cleaning items such as packaging gloves, masks, dishwasher detergent, bleach and other household products.

Earlier this week, members of the Eaton Church of Brethren collected and prepared donated supplies for Thursday night’s final packing. Clean-up buckets were among the most needed supplies, another critical need was blankets.  Kiger and his organization noted that it was better to give a $5 donation, so the church could buy blankets.

The load was scheduled to leave Thursday night headed first for Maryland, then other areas within the region, according to Nick Kiger the event leader of the Church World Service Ohio regional office in Columbus.

Donations can be made to the Church World Service through their website, http://www.cwsglobal.org/kits, or by texting RESPOND to give $10 for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Source: Middletown Journal