As RDO Equipment Co. Field Service Technician Greg Steiner and his family watched the approach of Hurricane Ida on the news, they knew they wanted to help those inevitably impacted by the storm’s destruction in the best way they could. What followed involved a 16-foot trailer, 1,000 miles on the road, and not a single regret.
“We wanted to show our support, but more than that, we wanted to make sure people know we care about them,” Greg said. “After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, we sent money, but we didn’t necessarily know where it ended up. It didn’t feel like we were helping as much as we could have.”
This time, the Steiners wanted to help on a more personal level. They found Giving Hope NOLA, a New Orleans nonprofit devoted to providing essential supplies and care to community members in need. The Steiners got a list of needed items from the organization and decided to collect and deliver them in-person. Then they turned to the community for help.
Troy Young, General Manager of RDO Pflugerville, was quick to support the effort, and the Pflugerville team answered the Steiners’ call, donating canned goods, pet food, cleaning supplies, diapers, water, and more. Combined with further donations gathered at their church, Greg and his family completely filled their 16-foot trailer with supplies.
“We planned on making the drive no matter how many supplies we got, but we didn’t know we would end up taking so much.”
Next, the Steiner family hit the road, bound for New Orleans and the Giving Hope NOLA warehouse. Their goal was to deliver supplies, but what they took in along the way was valuable, too.
“It was an eye-opener,” he said. “We saw the devastation, but we also saw so much gratitude,” he said.
The gratitude began before they even arrived, as other drivers showed appreciation of the effort with honks, waves, and thumbs-up. At their destination, the response was even stronger from local volunteers, who were struck not only by the volume of supplies but the distance the family had traveled to deliver them.
“That alone was worth it,” Greg said.
And it did not take the full 1,000 miles or 23 hours of time in the truck for Greg and his family to reflect on their effort.
“We agreed on the way back, we would do it again in a heartbeat.”
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