Realtors seek donations for victims
Coldwell Banker employees to leave Thursday to make another delivery
Food, furniture among needed items
Coldwell Banker McGrew Real Estate is accepting donations of food, household items, toiletries and – depending on the condition – furniture to be delivered to victims of flooding in the Coffeyville area.
People may drop off items during business hours at the Coldwell Banker office, 1501 Kasold Drive, through Wednesday evening. The truck is scheduled to leave Thursday morning for Coffeyville.
People interested in donating furniture may contact Tracy Saenz to arrange a pickup, if appropriate. She may be reached at 393-5555.
A Lawrence Realtor and a growing roster of area businesses and residents are looking to assist victims of flooding that struck Coffeyville a month ago.
Tracy Saenz, whose son lives and works in Coffeyville, is organizing a donation drive to help people affected by floodwaters that swamped the Montgomery County city June 30, closing dozens of businesses, displacing hundreds of residents and leaving the community with a long list of needs.
Saenz is busy collecting toiletries, packaged foods, furniture and other items to deliver to an assistance center operated by the Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance, now working out of a former Orscheln store.
“These are our neighbors in our own backyard, in our very own state. They’re calling it ‘Little Katrina,'” she said. “There’s people suffering there, and these are our neighbors. This is what we’re supposed to do.”
The effort already has been empowered by cash donations from her bosses at Coldwell Banker McGrew Real Estate, the Lawrence Board of Realtors and title companies in town. Emprise Bank provided $500 worth of diapers. Individual donors continue to kick in money for fuel.
Saenz and a fellow Coldwell Banker Realtor, Steve LaRue, plan to load up another truck in time to head back to Coffeyville on Thursday. People can drop off donations until then at the Coldwell Banker office, 1501 Kasold Drive.
By Saenz’s count, the town has lost 123 businesses, grappled with 71,000 gallons of spilled oil from a refinery and recorded more than 6,000 flood-damaged homes.
Earlier this month, Saenz and her husband managed to deliver one 15-foot Budget moving van with donated items, including clothes, cleaning supplies, canned food and toiletries.
This week, even without clothes – “They have enough of those,” Saenz said – organizers are looking forward to hauling even more help to people who need it. Of particular need, she said, are toiletries, Band-Aids, shampoo, diapers and, of course, food.
“Kids want cereal; they want different things,” she said. “The poor people are eating macaroni and cheese forever.”