Locals sending help for Harvey victims

Eastern New Mexico is preparing to send some neighborly love to Texas as it struggles through a disaster this week.

Hurricane Harvey has destroyed property, displaced more than a million residents, and killed over 35 people so far.

While the tropical storm is now moving east into Louisiana, Texas faces a long road to recovery, and organizations in Portales and Clovis want to help.

The Clovis and Portales fire departments have partnered to gather donations that will be sent to Houston early next week.

The most needed items, according to Portales Fire Chief Gary Nuckols, are bottled water, peanut butter, canned meat and vegetables, and dry beans and rice.

“We were focusing specifically on food and water, just based on those number of folks that they’re sheltering down there; just trying to get as much as we can gathered up in those items to hopefully help out with the food necessities and water necessities there,” he said.

The number of displaced people demands assistance from anywhere it can be found, Nuckols said.

“I think that any donations they receive from anywhere in the U.S. are gonna be welcomed and very well-used.”

Donations can be dropped off at the Portales Fire Department any time, Nuckols said.

The Clovis Fire Department will be accepting donations at its 320 Mitchell Street location from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Friday, Chief Mike Nolen said.

There was no question the department had to contribute to relief efforts in some way, Nolen said.

“These are people. This is what we do. As a complete humanitarian issue, this is just something that we have to do,” he said.

The supplies will be delivered to Houston by Clovis firefighter Tyler Lucas, who said he will leave on Monday or Tuesday.

After the delivery has been made, Lucas plans to help wherever he is needed.

“I know a lot of people are bringing their boats down and kind of doing their own thing, so if I couldn’t get in with an organized group, I was just gonna try and jump in with somebody who has a boat, at least for a few days,” he said.

When Harvey struck Houston, the number of people affected compelled Lucas to contribute in some way.

“We’re talking millions of people being displaced, and coming from the fire department background, I know that resources can be depleted very quickly. We’re not too far away. It’s maybe a nine-hour drive away, 10 hours, so I think we just kind of have a duty, especially coming from civil service, to do something about it.”

The Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico is also asking for donations of food, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene items.

Director Dianna Sprague said that while eastern New Mexico struggles with its own hunger pains, she hopes “we can look beyond our immediate needs and help out our Texan neighbors.”

The food bank will accept donations between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.

Anyone wanting to make a cash donation to food banks in the affected areas can visit http://www.fbenm.org for a full list of organizations and their websites.