Home Builders Association of Delaware and Two Men and a Truck partner with Community to “Stuff the Truck” for Houston Hurricane Victims.

​Throughout the state of Delaware, the community has come together to help collect much needed supplies for the continued relief efforts in Houston. After Hurricane Harvey flooded them with several feet of water, The Home Builders Association of Delaware partnered with Two Men and a Truck with hopes of sending one truck load of supplies down to Houston.  Several Members of Home Builders Association of Delaware (HBADE) volunteered to become drop off locations in each county.  Soon the public learned of our efforts, and more and more members of the community began to provide donations and assistance.
JS Homes of Bear DE, became our collection point in Northern New Castle County.  Soon, Melissa Scott of JS Homes, called the HBADE office to advise us that Jenner’s Pond, (a retirement community in PA) , had an 18 ft box truck filled to help “Stuff the Truck”.  JS Homes also collected a number of items from local community members to send to Houston.
Middletown Kitchen and Bath (MKB), of Middletown DE, became our collection point in Southern New Castle County.  Mark Gandy, owner of MKB, collected many items. In addition when another charity backed out of an arrangement with a local fire company to deliver 18 additional pallets of supplies, Mark found them transportation and a driver. Mark also joined Two Men and a Truck to help sort through donations to repackage and load for transport.
Frank McKee Jr. of McKee Builders of Springfield, PA also did a drive at their local favorite coffee spot. They were able to collect several SUV’s full of items to contribute to the collection efforts of the Home Builders Association of Delaware.
Resort Custom Homes of Lewes, DE collected items in Sussex County. Mark Grahne, (owner), delivered them to HBADE staff on several occasions to get them to Two Men and a Truck. Sunny Dean, (also of Resort Custom Homes), helped sort and repackage things to load the truck up for transport.
Schell Brothers of Rehoboth, DE decided they wanted to help, rented a box truck and hosted a collection drive over the weekend of September 23rd and 24th. There were many items collected from Schell Brothers’ communities. The most collected items seemed to be paper products and brand new linens, some of which Schell purchased themselves. Mark Moore, (Senior Construction Manager for Schell), delivered their stuffed truck to Two Men and a Truck on Monday, September 25th. The items Schell Brothers collected filled almost an entire garage bay at the Two Men and a Truck office.
Ted Ammann of the Red Clay School District reached out to Home Builders Association of Delaware because they wanted to do a drive, but had no way to transport the items. HBADE and Two Men and a Truck agreed to take their items.  Children from the district collected an 18 ft box truck filled with items such as school supplies, toiletries, pet supplies, and non-perishable items. Mr. Ammann, along with some of his co-workers, drove the truck to Two Men and a Truck and filled an entire garage bay with the items they collected.
Two Men and a Truck of Dover, DE was the collection point for Kent County, and also kindly donated a truck and driver in the beginning of collection efforts.  Jeremy Brown, (owner of the Dover location), stated that items just trickled in every day. After receiving 3 truckloads of deliveries from other locations, Home Builders Association and Two Men and a Truck had no choice but to consider cutting off the collection efforts several weeks early.
Mr. Brown did not want to turn away people whom had not heard we had stopped collecting, so he graciously kept receiving items as they came. In the end, Mr. Brown not only donated a truck and driver of his own, but rented an additional truck and provided an additional driver to take the collected supplies to Texas.
Our collective efforts resulted in 29,500 pounds of goods to send to Houston. Items will be delivered and distributed with the help of Texas local Greater Brazos Valley Builders Association. The HBADE community received so much support, that overflow donations, beyond the 29,500 pounds, went to support other organizations in Hurricane relief efforts.
Finally, HBADE would like to thank Leon N Weiner & Associates for donating funds to help defray the expenses of Two Men and a Truck. We would also like to thank Ted Ammann of Red Clay School District; Jeremy Brown, Two Men and a Truck; Sunny Dean, Resort Custom Homes; Mark Gandy, Middletown Kitchen and Bath; Mark Grahne, Resort Custom Homes; Frank McKee Jr, McKee Builders; Mark Moore, Schell Brothers; Rose Selman, Greater Brazos Valley Builders Association; Melissa Scott, JS Homes; Bob Taylor, JS Homes; and the community for their generous donations.
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