Donations of clothes, diapers and food are pouring in for residents of McDougald Terrace in Durham. Hundreds of people remain displaced again this week after a carbon monoxide scare at the public housing apartments.
Churches, schools, the restaurant Zweli’s – all have collected donations for McDougald Terrace residents, who are low income and mostly African American. Many of the items collected have ended up at the Salvation Army on Liberty Street.
"We have blankets, we have things separated for women, infants, toddlers, small boys, small girls, we have shoes," said Aalayah Sanders, director of volunteer services at the Durham Salvation Army.
A half dozen men from TROSA are boxing up about 9,000 pounds of donations and taking them to a temporary distribution center at the old University Ford lot in downtown Durham.
In the meantime, donations are still pouring in at McDougald Terrace.
"It’s nice, I love it that [we're] getting the donations that we’re getting," said Kimberly Graves, vice president of the McDougald Terrace Residents Council. "This is what we had to come to get donations like this. I don’t understand it."
Graves and several others chose not to evacuate to hotels with some 200 other McDougald Terrace families as the Durham Housing Authority continues to inspect apartments for carbon monoxide leaks. Eight people have been treated for elevated levels.
Inspections continue this week.
