One week ago, a 50,000 square-foot facility near Planet Fitness transformed from an empty, desolate space to a bustling one filled with hundreds of pallets of donations from across the country. The sounds of Kentucky National Guard-operated forklifts and other civilian volunteers transporting donations within the facility are now common.
The space has been designated as The Restoration Center, a collaborative effort between Paducah, McCracken County, Mayfield, Graves County and churches of the West Union Baptist Association.
It serves as a place to store donations meant to assist local tornado survivors. Ultimately, once materials are organized, groups will be able to request items from The Restoration Center and those groups will then distribute to the people who are recovering from tornado damage, especially in Graves and Marshall counties.
The volunteer-driven Restoration Center has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people across the nation who have rapidly responded to tornadoes that hit the state three weeks ago. The thousands of donated items the center received and transported from other shelters between Christmas and New Year’s has created a problem that volunteers are working to resolve: organizing everything.
Paducah Mayor George Bray said the center is trying to be organized on the donations it is receiving. While he appreciates the generosity of those who have given materials, The Restoration Center is quickly filling up and volunteers need to organize everything and figure out what the center has stocked up.
“People want to make donations and we’re very grateful for everything, but people are showing up unannounced and what’s gonna happen is the warehouse is gonna fill up and we’re gonna have to stop and get organized,” Bray said.
Bray said two executives from H.T. Hackney, a grocery distribution company, will be volunteering their time and providing warehouse training to Restoration Center volunteers on Monday. Because of this, the facility will not be accepting any donations on Monday. Some of the volunteers have never worked in a warehouse before, and Bray hopes the H.T. Hackney workers will be able to provide insight on the most efficient way to organize the donations.
Jerome Mansfield, former McCracken County Emergency Management director who is now coordinating efforts at The Restoration Center with Lone Oak First Baptist Church, said groups from states like Texas and Georgia have sent truckloads of donations. Mansfield said it is preferred that groups call ahead to schedule a donation and not just drop off items unannounced so that volunteers can coordinate the intake of materials and determine whether the center has space for a group’s donation.
“We will probably be organizing [donations] all of next week,” Mansfield said.
Currently, volunteers are organizing like items together. Inside of The Restoration Center, there are rows of canned food products and paper products stacked up on pallets. Volunteers created some signs, such as for water, bed sheets and clothes, to help organize items and find a place for the items inside the facility. Kentucky National Guard members were working on Thursday and Friday to unload pallets of saran-wrapped materials from trucks towing trailer beds and moving the pallets into the center.
Bray suggested to those who want to donate to consider giving money. Monetary donations allow for groups to be able to buy new items they need to stock up on and can prevent receiving too many of the same items, Bray said. Four funds he suggested donating to are the Team Western Kentucky Relief Fund, Mayfield-Graves County Tornado Relief Fund, Community Foundation of Western Kentucky Disaster Relief Fund, and the Red Cross.
One week ago, The Restoration Center had few donations inside of the building. It has since filled up in the last few days with thousands of donations transferred from nearby warehouses and across the nation.
Volunteers are currently needed to help assist efforts within the center. There is an immediate volunteer need for forklift operators, those with warehouse operations experience or experience as a factory foreman or floor leader, those who are able to pick and sort donations up to 50 pounds, and those with food prep and food service experience.
Volunteers can sign up online at loneoakfbc.org/rcvolunteer or call 270-554-1441 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All volunteers must complete a background check before serving. A coordinator will contact potential volunteers after they sign up to confirm the days and times of shifts. Mansfield said a phone line is being set up at the center for groups to call about donations.
