 "Photo: Julie Ann Sanchez")
SABINE PASS - When supplies were brought to this tiny bedroom community south of Port Arthur, the Red Cross unloaded them near the major intersection of the town and expected residents to take what they needed.
Workers who didn't live in Sabine Pass picked up the supplies before the townspeople could collect them, Tammie Blood, resident and diner co-owner, said.
That was until her sister, Kristi Heid, stepped in.
Heid, principal of Sabine Pass Independent School District, organized the pickup of donations dropped off by Red Cross and others.
Now supplies are dropped off at a temporarily closed 75-by-100 foot garage. Before the garage became a distribution center, it was the school's shop class building, she said.
Sabine Pass residents can stop by the center two days a week from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and pick up nonperishable food, clothes, groceries, toiletries and ice. Most denizens visit the center at least once a week, Heid said.
She said she recently stopped by there to pick up a tube of toothpaste.
In the center, boxes are stacked to the ceiling with tables set up containing toiletries and nonperishable cans neatly lined up and easily visible. Jugs of water are placed on a crate on the floor. Outside, clothes are on hangers under an overhang. Blankets, heaters, pillows, and much more can be found within the walls.
"If they got it, you get it," Matt Deltier, Sabine Pass ISD groundskeeper and center volunteer, said. "There's not a whole lot going on right now. The grass is all dead, so I'm helping out with everything else."
The supplies used to fill the entire area, but were compacted to half the size to avoid fire risks, Nancy Bossley, a volunteer at the center, said.
Bossley worked at the food store in Sabine Pass and lost her job after the storm. The food store hasn't reopened.
Sabine Pass ISD is running the center, which opened about two weeks after the storm and continues to this day. Heid said the center is going to continue running as long as the residents need it.
Maintenance supervisor Tommy Butler said help has come from everywhere. A bus from California drove two weeks to drop off donations.
"We're amazed at all of the help we've gotten," Butler said.
He said numerous people called asking if Sabine Pass needed more supplies, and the center workers had to turn some away.
"This is a really small community," he said of the community that now numbers about 500. "It took a while for folks to migrate back. We didn't want to get too many perishable supplies and not be able to distribute them.
"I hope we never have to go through this again, but we know from this experience that there's help out there and we appreciate it," Butler said.
The center also is put into use feeding inmates from a Port Arthur jail, Heid said.
The inmates are in Sabine Pass helping clean up the debris, so the town cooks them lunch. Residents take turns cooking each day.
"We're kind of sharing it," Heid said.
Be the first to comment on this article!