AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – We recently told you how the The American Red Cross is reducing its recovery efforts after Tropical Storm Debby passes.

The need for emergency shelters has decreased and people now have additional food and water donated by corporate sponsors.

Our local Red Cross is looking for solutions as to what should happen with the donations in kind.

Thanks to corporate sponsors, eight local nonprofits receive food and water.

“We had many in-kind donors from across the country who provided us with food and water and graciously allowed us to keep the supplies here in the community. After all local needs were met, we still had additional resources that we were eager to share with our community,” said Susan Everitt, executive director of the American Red Cross of East Central Georgia.

The Salvation Army Center of Hope is one of the organizations supported by the Red Cross.

They received 22 pallets of water.

Janelys Villalta, marketing and public relations manager for the Salvation Army of Augusta, said, “We are so grateful to the American Red Cross for donating all of this water that they couldn’t use for disaster relief. As Susan said, just because they didn’t need it for Debby’s disaster victims doesn’t mean our community doesn’t need it.”

The Center of Hope feeds an average of 80 to 90 people per day, and the number of people staying at the shelter and eating at the soup kitchen continues to grow.

“We are serving a lot more meals on average. We get almost 800 extra meals in a month for our homeless and the community as a whole. So you can see the need is definitely growing and there. We are very grateful to our community partners for helping us serve those who are in need,” Villalta said.

With the help of RW Allen Construction and Red Cross volunteers, more than 51,000 containers of water were delivered to the Center of Hope.

Frank Lagorio, a volunteer, said, “I love working with the Salvation Army. We work hand in hand. We were together in the Oklahoma tornadoes and we ran out of some of the supplies; they were able to get the same supplies. It’s like one hand feeding the other. It’s a great partnership.”

And it’s never too late to help. The Center of Hope says it accepts water and nonperishable food items year-round.

You can help at any time by volunteering at the soup kitchen. Preparations begin every day at 3:30 p.m.

Currently, more than half of the people at the Center of Hope are women and children.

To donate or volunteer, visit https://salvationarmyaugusta.galaxydigital.com/need/detail/?need_id=909985.

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