Cars circled the Auburn Dream Center as volunteers unloaded donations for tornado relief after storms ripped through Lee County Sunday afternoon.
The Dream Center, a storage and staging facility for the outreach programs of the Church of the Highlands, opened at 6 a.m. on Monday following the storms to collect donations such as diapers, water and granola bars.
By 10:45 a.m., the warehouse building was packed with supplies while cars continued to circle the building and drop off donations.
“We’ve been in contact with the local first responders, and we got a list from them of some things that were needed immediately so we are collecting those today,” said Wren Aaron, campus pastor at the Church of the Highlands Auburn.
Donations collected for tornado victims on March 4, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.
The center closed at 11 a.m. to asses the donations. From there, the church will continue to work with first responders to determine what else may be needed and possibly set up more donation times.
The community response was large and almost immediate, Aaron said.
“As the sun came up and stores opened, people began to flood in,” Aaron said. “It’s incredible.”
A group of about 25 volunteers, many dressed in their red serve team shirts often seen around the community, unloaded boxes of donations as cars looped around the building. Cases of water bottles and boxes of granola bars and diapers were stacked throughout the building as volunteers worked to sort through the donations.
As volunteers would bring a carload of donations inside, another would appear almost instantly.
“We’re a part of an incredible community of people that love serving, love reaching out and helping people that are maybe struggling,” Aaron said.
Brandon Bailey, a volunteer at the Dream Center, came to help because of his involvement with Church of the Highlands.
“I hope that we are able to meet physical and spiritual needs of families that were affected by this tragedy,” Bailey said. “We’ve got tons of supplies, and we’re going to be able to meet some of those needs. We just want to be a helping hand and be the church."
Several locations throughout Lee County are continuing to take donations.
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Elizabeth, senior in journalism and political science, is the community editor for The Plainsman
