Donated items will be hand-delivered the to Salvation Army distribution centers in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Thanks to the overwhelming support from Metro-Detroiters, the mass collection effort to supply the Salvation Army with goods for Hurricane Katrina victims has been a tremendous success. Rescue 4 Hurricaid: Flight of Champions, a relief effort organized by the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) along with WDIV Local 4 and Art Van Furniture, has collected nearly 520,000 pounds or 260 tons of donated items.
The Rescue 4 Hurricaid: Flight of Champions project, which began last Monday, September 12, set up donation centers in all 30 Art Van Furniture locations in Michigan. With the help of Michiganders, the collection centers were able to fill 40 of Art Van’s semi-trucks with items ranging from baby diapers, wipes and formula to extensions cords, brooms, and mops.
Throughout the week, WDIV Local Channel 4 brought live coverage of the project from various Art Van Furniture stores in the Metro-Detroit area. Several members of the Palace Sports & Entertainment family – including Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter and rookie Jason Maxiell, Pistons Head Coach Flip Saunders, Shock forward Barbara Farris, and PS&E President and CEO Tom Wilson – were also in attendance at the Art Van locations to show their support.
On Monday, after a mere week of taking donations, Barbara Farris was on hand again as several tons of the collected items were loaded onto Roundball One, the Pistons team plane.
“It’s inspiring to see how generous the people of Michigan have been, especially considering how close to home this is for me,” the six-year Shock veteran said. “The support shown by the people who contributed to Rescue 4 Hurricaid and other relief programs like it is just amazing.”
On Tuesday, September 20 more than 20 members from the Pistons and Shock organization, including Farris, Hunter and Wilson, and representatives from WDIV, Art Van, and the Salvation Army will fly down to Biloxi, Mississippi, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to hand-deliver the donated items to Salvation Army distribution centers in the area. There will be approximately 20 tons delivered between two planes leaving over 100 tons to be distributed in Michigan for evacuees first, and then later trucked down to the distribution centers.
Shock forward Barbara Farris, a native of Harvey, LA, about 15 minutes outside of the heart of New Orleans and a graduate of Tulane University, was happy to lend a helping hand.
“Obviously there is a lot of work that needs to be done over the coming months,” said Farris, “but it really is a privilege to be able to travel to the affected areas of the Gulf Coast and be a part of what Palace Sports & Entertainment, WDIV and Art Van have put together in such a short period of time.”
Farris, who has not seen her parents since Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives of millions, has something else to be excited about as well. The scheduled trip to the Gulf Coast to help those still left stranded, includes a visit from her mother and father.