Several businesses in Salem are offering support for the victims from the recent flooding.
Produce Plus in Salem has been distributing meals to the victims of the flood. They began making meals for the first responders, Fire department, and United Medical. The overwhelming amount of damage led Harvey ‘H.A.’ Evans to make the decision to go further and offered meals to flood victims.
“It’s super hard to see people in your community go through something like this, and knowing sometimes there’s not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel,” Evans said. “A lot of these insurance companies are denying flood damage. We aren’t a super-rich town. Everybody here isn’t wealthy. A lot of us live paycheck to paycheck, week to week, and you don’t really have an opportunity to account for something like what happened this past weekend. It’s really stuck with me, thinking about what I can do in the future.”
On Saturday, Evans distributed over 300 meals, and on Sunday, they distributed over 400 meals. Evans laid out a donation jar for anyone willing to donate money. They continued to get a large amount of support from the community.
Word of Evans actions reached a non-profit organization in Washington D.C. The non-profit was supportive of Evans dedication to the people, and offered funding for the meals which have been able to continue throughout this week.
For Easter, Evans is planning something special for the flood victims and provide a warm Easter Dinner out of money left in the donation jar.
Meanwhile Owens and Associates Insurance is partnering with Simply Rustic Things to help collect non-perishable food, daily necessities, and clothing for the flood victims. They may be left at the two businesses in the strip shopping center in the 300 block of East Main. Jada Owens stresses the importance of clothing donations.
“We’re just taking everything as far as donations,” Owens said. “So far, we’ve had Lilies and Sparrows. They’ve already started taking in some donations and they’re going to drop some stuff off this afternoon.”
Donations will be taken through April 18th. Items will then be distributed to those impacted by the flood.
