Hurricane relief

Hello all! My name is Sadie LaSalle. My picture was featured here in a story a few weeks ago about the EP Lions Club and Botticelli's and their donations for Hurricane Helene relief (I'm the one in the yellow vest). While this story is so heartwarming, it gets better. There are people involved that didn't make the photo op and I'm here to share the whole story... with some extra warm and fuzzy details.

A couple days after Helene hit, I was seeing and hearing the level of devastation from friends and family in NC. Through multiple social media platforms, I was able to establish a relationship with Candy Walker of Shelby, NC, who has been a part of relief, rescue and recovery. Listening to her and her testimony moved me so much I made the decision to make a difference for these families. No matter what!

I was given permission from The Pet Food Experts chain of command to use their facility. For 4 weeks I processed, packaged and labeled donations to build these pallets for both people AND pets. This was also when we integrated supplies from organizations all over RI and Mass! The PFX staff also contributed to this cause and we were able to get 8 pallets worth of supplies, 4 for pets and 4 for the people! Absolutely AWESOME! The Cumberland distributing center was able to take 6 of our donation pallets to their Pennsylvania warehouse.

While we had made a connection in PA to be able to pick up and transport these directly to NC, their transportation was inadequate. When the Pet Food Experts Director of Logistics and Transportation, Lisa Almeida heard our contact in Pennsylvania was unable to transport these donations, she assessed the costs and Rumford Pet Center's own Mike Baker eagerly offered to cover this himself! This is just one of the great things PFX and my employer have done for our fellow humans in need.

I felt it was only deserving for them to get recognition for this amazing display of humanity! I must also give praise to all of the Cumberland PFX staff that helped get these pallets to PA. Especially Roberto Hernandez the Director of Transportation, Steve Mcgrath PFX 1st shift supervisor and Alexis (Justice) Doctor PFX second shift supervisor.


These are all the organizations that also contributed to our relief efforts: EP Lions Club, Bottecelli's, Pet Food Experts, Rumford Pet Center, Little Rhody Rescue (Kate Dubuque), East Bay Baptist Church, Stepping Stone Ranch and Springwood-Welch Farm. With all of this being said we are still accepting donations! We have 2 pallets so far and will be creating a gofundme for private transportation after the new year. Please contact me at liloak173023@gmail.com  for an updated list of accepted donations and local drop off locations!

Thank You So Much to Everyone!!!
Sadie LaSalle