Erik Eisele
Staff Writer
The Budget box truck parked in front of 102 Bedford St. slowly filled with toilet paper, children’s books, Slinkys and hair care products Wednesday evening. At 6 PM donations were still arriving. Brian Farrell, the man in charge of the collection effort, pushed back his departure to Massachusetts’ Camp Edwards to accommodate the late arrivals.
Camp Edwards on Cape Cod, also known as Otis Air National Guard Base, is home to around 200 evacuees whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The truck parked in front of the Honors Program house was Farrell’s and the USM Honors Student Organization’s (HSO) attempt to bring a little normalcy into the evacuee’s lives.
Farrell, a senior, said he isn’t trying to do anything grand; he’s “just trying to do the right thing.”
After first looking at driving a truckload of supplies to the Gulf Coast, Farrell got in contact with relief workers at Camp Edwards. They told Farrell they had supplied the victims with necessities but there were still things that could be done to make the new residents more comfortable.
Tuesday afternoon Farrell sent out an email asking people to drop off cleaning supplies, cash and “African American hair care products” at the Honors House before 2 PM on Wednesday. Christopher Mills, a resident of South Portland, had donated a truck and Farrell planned to drive the supplies to Camp Edwards that afternoon.
Early Wednesday the truck blew a tire. Farrell went to Budget Truck Rental in South Portland and rented a box truck with money provided by the HSO and Mr. Mills.
Farrell found out that Camp Edwards receiving station would not open until 9 AM on Thursday, so he said he would drive down Wednesday evening and spend the night in Massachusetts. He said he didn’t mind the inconvenience as it allowed him to stay later to collect more donations.
Farrell said the response had been great considering how little publicity had gone into the event. Aside from an email sent out the day before and announcements on WMPG, Farrell said he was counting on word of mouth. It was too last minute, he said, to have advertised well, but the added time was helping.
The supplies and the money were meant to supplement the relief provided by the American Red Cross and other organizations, Farrell said, not to replace it. He collected supplies meant to improve the quality of life, not to sustain it. Through his contact he learned the residents of Camp Edwards had the necessities but lacked everyday things.
The HSO was able to buy a large supply of hair care products, one of the items evacuees had requested the most, through Sally’s Hair Care Shop in South Portland. Beth Round, Assistant Director of the USM Honors Program, said that Sally’s Hair Care offered a deep discount and valuable insight on which products to buy. The Honors Program bought $400 worth of products for $200. Farrell said hair care products intended for African-Americans were in great demand in the camp.
Farrell received several phone calls over the course of the day, expanding his original list of products to include books, backpacks and toys. He said USM faculty, staff and students were doing a great job of going out of their way to provide for the evacuees. As we all should, he said, because “any inconvenience to this community is minute in comparison to the trauma these people experienced.”