The City of League City, led by Mayor Pat Hallisey and a group of volunteers, has teamed up with Kroger to establish a League City Kroger Donation Center to support recovery efforts related to Hurricane Harvey.
It will be located in the empty store front at 176 Gulf Freeway South (at the intersection with FM 518 and I-45) in the League City Plaza.
“We all know we are here because Chad Davidson sitting up in Mustang, Okla., saw somewhere on the news that his hometown had flooded. We have some 6,000 homes that have water in them. Most of our people are out there trying to recover right now,” Mayor Hallisey said.
The mayor also highlighted the efforts of the Kroger team from Cincinnati, all the way down to the local store, jumping through hoops to make this happen. “Their generosity is something special. We made one call and within three hours we had the store keys and the beginning on the donation center,” he added.
The empty store front had originally been set aside for Galveston County and the Red Cross to provide support, but Galveston County Commissioner Mark Henry said that facility was moved to Texas Agrilife Center in La Marque, opening the door for League City to begin establishing a single League City Kroger Donation Center, which will eventually consolidate facilities from Hometown Heroes and Walter Hall parks.
“One thing that has jumped out at me throughout this catastrophic event, is the generosity in the City of League City and Galveston County. It has just been unbelievable. Neighbors helping neighbors and people like Libby Johnson chasing me around and teaming with my wife and daughter to get this set-up,” Hallisey said.
“Our problem was that storm supplies and donations were starting to come quickly, and we needed a facility to be able to get them out to the community. Ryan Smith, the City of League City’s IT director has put in a lot of effort to coordinate the use of the Kroger storefront, forklifts and logistics coordination to help make this facility a reality. Ryan is our Radar O’Riley…he can do anything.”
On Sunday, two tractor trailers from Mustang, Okla., arrived at 7 a.m. and numerous local and area residents have stopped by to drop off supplies. The donation center is anticipating as many as six to eight additional truckloads coming in from Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Indiana and Colorado. The center also received some welcome support from a four person Summerdale, Ala. team that drove through the storm with a goose-neck trailer to get much needed supplies into the Galveston County area.
On Sunday our donation center will become a donation and distribution center. The donation and distribution center is taking all donations except clothing. Initially the center will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with volunteer check in beginning at 10 a.m. and continuing through the day.
Volunteers, donors and those seeking assistance are asked to report to the appropriate entrances. People looking for volunteer information or bringing large donations for drop-off should contact Johnnie Waid or Carl Wankowicz at [email protected]
“We are grateful for all the support for those in need,” the mayor added. “It really shows the heart of our community.”
