Volunteers provide food and water to responders on collapsed condo site

• As responders continue their long shifts at the collapsed Florida condo, a growing list of volunteers are making sure to provide them food and water.
• Some offer an assortment of food, while others provide refreshments.
• The congregation of a nearby church also pitched in for donations so they could continue offering support.

Several firefighters, police officers, and other rescue workers have been working 12-hour shifts at the site of the Champlain Towers South Condo since its collapse last Thursday.

Since then, a growing number of volunteers has made sure to offer them an assortment of refreshments.

Pastor Ezequiel Fattore of the nearby Casa Church has been handing out bottles of water and Gatorade to first responders within hours of the Thursday incident.

He said that it was what they had on hand, until several donations came in and allowed him to buy more.

A side room at Fattore’s church has been filled with cases of water, energy drinks, bottled iced coffees, and bags of chips and other snacks. Another church also dropped by with a van filled with more refreshments.

Nicolette and Patrick Daniel, who have a law firm in Houston, traveled from Texas to Florida to offer whatever assistance they could.

She shared that she received an outpouring of support when her mother passed away a year ago, and it was that support that kept her going. So she wanted to do the same for others.

The couple hired a food truck to cook 350 meals, which are being distributed in the church’s parking lot. Robert Martinez and his crew fried chicken tenders and Oreos in a circus-themed food truck. Robert said they were excited to help.

A block away from the site, at the intersection where police officers directed traffic, Nicolette pulled a wheeled cart packed with the food.

Sgt. Patricia Vazquez was one of the grateful officers Nicolette approached, but she had to graciously decline. It turns out that the officer had already eaten, thanks to another volunteer.

The officer shared, “So many people have been coming by with food. Somebody just came by here with 50 Big Macs.”

Pastor Fattore shared that some church members have friends still unaccounted for, but the never-ending support from volunteers has reaffirmed his faith.

He shared, “It gives hope for humanity.”

Source: MSN