Gears & Gizmos Texas - Hurricane Helene Aid

10/18/2024

Thank you post from the organization that we donated the supplies to. Happy to help. To those that supported us, y'all rock!

10/14/2024

Monday 10/14/24 Update:

Now that my Father and I are back home after an early morning flight from Atlanta to Houston today, the following is the remaining parts of the logistical story along side the final talley of the numbers:

Saturday 10/12 was another long day, as we traveled from the west end of Birmingham, AL all the way to Reidsville, NC near the central northern NC/VA border. Upon arrival, we delivered 1 of the 2 business deliveries I originally had planned to make before the Hurricane had happened. We then got some sleep to prepare for the next long day on Sunday.

Bright and early, we dropped off the other planned business delivery. This freed up about 15% of the rear of the truck. We proceeded to use funds donated through the morning hours to pickup additional PPE, tools, cleaning, and cooking supplies requested to refill the back of the truck. A huge thank you to local Harbor Freight, Sam's Club, and Academy stores in Greensboro and Winston-Salem for helping up to refill the truck. We were sure to spread out the purchasing to not completely empty shelves for any locals that may need the same supplies.

We then contacted our donation drop off location to plan the final delivery. We worked predominantly with Hurricane Helene Relief Flights - GSO who had a local partner network going with local community, church, and first responder groups in conjunction with the United Carolina Cavalry for final leg delivery of supplies. Due to their Winston-Salem airport hangar being full at the last minute, they worked bringing a 26 foot Uhaul truck that we offloaded from our truck into theirs so that it could be immediately taken into the Mountains for resupply.

After 2 hours, our truck was once again empty. They thanked us and everyone who contributed for the support and we, likewise, thanked them for their continued efforts to get it where it would be most helpful. From there, we rolled out the 5 hours back south to Atlanta to drop off the Penkse Truck and sleep a couple hours before catching the first flight out this morning.

The Numbers:

1) GoFundMe Monetary Donation - $10,562 (Reached the 10K goal)
2) GoFundMe Fee Cost - $229
3) Total Logistics Cost - $3865
4) Buying Power - $6468
5) Total Physical Supply Donation Value Estimation - $12,000
6) Total Donation Value Estimation - $18,468
7) Supplemental Donation Purchases - $6440
8 ) Total Remaining Balance - $28

9) Penske 26 ft Box Truck Dimensions - 8 ft by 8 ft by 26 ft
10) Total Box Volume - 1664 Cubic Ft (we filled the box)
11) Total GVWR Load Rating - 10,000 lbs (we maxed out the weight, verified by CAT DOT scale)
12) Total Approximate Truck MPG Full - 10
13) Total Hours of Sleep During Trip - 12 hours
14) Total Travel Mileage - 2222 miles

Again, so many awesome people met and willing to go the extra mile to help. We cannot thank you enough for your time, effort, and financial contributions. We were honored to be the mobile, long haul portion of the effort. I will create a final update on all platforms in the coming days once the dust settles as a final, focused thank you to all those who contributed directly. Until then, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

10/12/2024

Good morning Everyone!

I apologize for the delay in getting the next update out. The last 2 days have been very busy. But, y'all did it!!! We completely filled a 26 ft Penske truck top to bottom, side to side with requested supplies! I know the pictures don't have one of it completely full, but that is because it was dark once the time and opportunity allowed. Will try to get one of those in the next 24 hours to include with a future update.

Thursday was jam packed making the rounds around Houston to pickup supplies, another large donation, and some commercial grade totes that were asked for to help with distribution. We then had to load all the Rockport donations from last weekend into the 26 ft Penske Truck. We finally finished around midnight.

Then on Friday, we had some final sorting and packing on last minute items before we could get on the road in earnest. As we traveled out of Houston, my father Scott and I had one more small pickup to make near Winnsboro, LA. Once that was loaded, we got to I-20 and booked it down the road. We finally pulled in to Birmingham, AL around 1 AM to get some sleep before setting out by 8 AM this morning for the next long drive to the Greensboro, NC area.

When we get to our stop for the night, I will try to update again to give more details about the local/regional group we are working with who will be receiving the donation Sunday by mid day.

It's been very long, tiring days, but rewarding at the same time. I just remind myself that this minor hardship is nothing compared to what the people of North Carolina are going through and that renews my drive to keep pushing on. So, as always, thank you for all the support and we will see you in the next update!

10/10/2024

Good Evening Everyone!

First, some good news. Due to the over $7000 of monetary donations along side 2 large physcial donations, I realized with some happiness that I had to upgrade my Penkse truck rental to their largest 26 foot version! For what its worth, Penske has been absolutely fantastic to work with. They have accomidated the various changes and upgrades without a single issue. These include finding me the last 26 ft truck in their district about a day out from rental pickup, still working to get it to my local Home Depot for an easy pickup, and helping to suggest charities to work with if needed, and even given me additional discounts on top to minimize the upgrade cost to allow for more funds to go to supplies. I can't thank them enough!

Now that I have the truck, tomorrow, Thursday 10/10/24, is all about logistics and loading. Based on recent communication, we will be loading 8x IBC 275 Gallon Water Totes into the front of the storage box, then picking up the 2nd large physcial donation from a local in Alief. We will then add the supplies that were picked up from the Rockport, TX group after that. I have a few sellers I am working to get buckets/totes for ease of small personal distribution of items to people once out there. Whatever space is left will then be packed with supplies that are purchased locally tomorrow. It will be a long day, but ready to hit the ground running.

Finally, I will be turning off the GoFundMe tomorrow evening, but keeping the page open for future updates until the supplies are delivered. I plan to make an spreadsheet that shows the donations coming in and going out that will then be posted for transparency. Once the truck is full, any left over funds will be donated to local charities as straight funds. These updates will come over the next few days, so keep an eye out.

Once again, I can not thank everyone enough for all the generosity and hard work you have shown, and for putting your trust and faith in me to deliver the goods to complete the mission. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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10/06/2024

Good morning everyone! Procurement and collection officially begins today and it started off with a bang! Picked up a large U-Haul to drive 3 hours down to Rockport, TX where they have been hard at work collecting donations this past week or so. Made for an early start at 4 AM but we'll worth the time and effort. .great group of people and awesome community. Thank you so much for the donation and help, y'all are awesome.

As I drive back to Houston, I will make a few stops to start picking up the bigger ticket items to finish filling this U-Haul before taking to our warehouse for temp storage the next few days. This is what it's all about, so let's get to that 10K goal and PACK THE TRUCK!

10/05/2024

Howdy everyone! We have steadily been climbing towards the goal and I can't thank you enough!! As some operations slow down and transition out in NC, please know that I have been monitoring and communicating with local groups to adjust accordingly. So, yes, there will be a truck full of supplies that will make it out there to those who need it. Don't let various reporting potentially discourage or confuse you. If anything, the transition from predominantly air operations to land based ones causes a lull that sometimes is hard to overcome. We will help to keep the momentum going when we deliver supplies in about 1 week.

Please continue to share with family, friends, and your community so we can maximize the donation. I will be traveling a few hours away tomorrow, Sunday 10/6, to pickup physical supplies rounded up by a local Mini Cooper Car group to bring back and start staging. A big thank to my company, Pit Crew Coffee Service, for allowing me to temporarily use their warehouse space for this purpose.

Just to relay the next steps coming up and their time frames:

1) I will complete the fundraising campaigne Thursday, 10/10/24. At that point, donations will be no longer be accepted, but this page will remain available to view as I continue to post updates.

2) I am beginning to procure supplies this weekend and going through the first part of next week.

3) I will be picking up the rented box truck Wednesday 10/9, loading up Thursday 10/10, and leaving either Thursday evening or very early Friday 10/11. I will travel north to I-20 and then across to I-85 to work my way to the distribution point. I plan to drop off all supplies Sunday 10/13

4) I will fly back Monday 10/14 and try to post final updates and wrap up pictures and or video that day or within a few days afterwards.

10/04/2024

While contributions have slowed in the last day, we are still slowly making progress. I apologise for some delays in updates/communications during the day at times. I do field service repair work as my main job during the day. Between long days recently with work and trying to keep up with 2 young daughters for the family side, time has proven to be something I wish I had more of.

That said, there are only a few more days of sharing/gathering donations before I will need to close the GoFundMe and begin using what we have collected to purchase, stockpile, and then load supplies in preparation for leaving in roughly 1 week.

Please continue to share and spread the word to PACK THE TRUCK. I placed 10K as a lofty goal, but I would love to at least get to 5K to really get bulk of some of the bigger ticket items they are asking for to load into the truck. As always, I greatly appreciate the support!

10/02/2024

After right at 24 hours, we have collected 15% of our goal to PACK THE TRUCK! Please keep sharing to spread the word. Thank you so much for the support!!

10/01/2024

Good morning! We have seen a slow but steady stream of donations begin to come in today. We can't thank you enough for your contribution.

As a note, I work as a Field Service Technician, so there may be delays in confirming/thanking donations during the day, but I promise to review and do so each evening once I am home and near a computer.

Please continue to spread the word if you can. Every little bit helps!