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Soaking rain doesn’t stop volunteers, donations for North Carolina

HUBER HEIGHTS — Even as the rain soaked the pavement at Wayne High School on Monday, a group of volunteers stood outside collecting donations.

The group from Engage City Church is collecting items that will soon head to North Carolina.

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“Just trying to do what we can do as a community coming together to help out,” Michael McElroy of Engage City Church said. “That's what we do a lot here at Engage, is just come together. Even in the pouring rain.”

Although the rain hasn’t let up, the Huber Heights community knows this is nothing compared to the damaging floodwater that devastated parts of North Carolina after Florence made landfall.

“We’ve had quite a few people come out. A lot of big donations,” McElroy said.

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Next Monday, volunteers plan to drive brand-new clothing, toiletries, baby items and other essentials to one of North Carolina’s hardest hit counties, where the curfew was just lifted as water levels slowly drop.

Leaders there plan to distribute donations across shelters and a family counseling center.

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“We have a 15-passenger van that will be loaded, we have a trailer that will be loaded. If we need more, we have more people that will be willing to take trailers down. Whatever we can get and whatever we can collect, we will take down,” McElroy said.

They high school also is getting involved. The football team will help collect items on Wednesday.

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