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Oxford gives big to Sandy's victims

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By early next week a half filled transport trailer of essentials will be rolling out of Oxford County headed to New Brunswick, N.J.

About a dozen people involved in the countywide effort dubbed simply, Project Sandy gathered at E.E. McLaughlin warehouse to load up the transport trailer.

Brian Stephenson, a town of Tillsonburg councillor and the one responsible for spearheading the initiative said the support from the entire county was overwhelming.

“I think it’s wonderful to do all this in a week. The schools got involved, the churches got involved,” he said standing on the loading platform at the warehouse. “The great thing about this is that it was a county-wide project and that doesn’t happen very often.”

Amongst the many donated items in the truck were new and used clothing, cleaning supplies, and even toys.

Hygiene products like toothpaste were donated by the case by area schools and Comfort Inn in Ingersoll donated boxes and boxes of blankets in good condition.

Scott Verspeeten of Verspeeten Cartage Ltd. out of Ingersoll donated the truck, trailer, and driver to get the goods to the community of New Brunswick – one of the poorest and hardest hit areas in New Jersey.

“We do a lot of business in the U.S. This was a good chance for us to help out the people in need of it,” Scott Verspeeten, owner of the trucking company, said.

Although it’s the busiest time of the year for Salvation Army thrift stores preparing for Christmas hampers and accepting donations, Major Stephen Sears from the Woodstock’s Salvation Army church said it was a pleasure to help with the project.

“It was well organized and a great cross section of people participated. It was a county-wide effort and that was impressive to me,” he said.

Anyone wanting to donate money to those still suffering after a super storm hit the coast of New York and New Jersey more than a month ago can do so through the Salvation Army.

tara.bowie@sunmedia.ca

 

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