In Newtown's time of need, the whole world reached out. Now several groups in town are "paying it forward" for another town in the midst of crisis: Moore, Okla., where a devastating tornado took the lives of 24 people on May 20.
Newtown's VFW Post 308 has been working with VFW members in Moore to provide the supplies they need the most: gift cards to help them get the goods they need to rebuild and restock their homes. Newtown VFW member Donna Randle says she's been in contact with adjutant Lynn Thompson in Oklahoma, whom she calls a "mover and shaker" who can get important work done efficiently.
"He said, 'Don't bother collecting stuff for us,'" said Donna Randle, a VFW member who has helped organize the effort in Newtown. "We've got tractor trailers full of water, clothing, goods, all kinds of stuff. What we don't have are things like gift cards where people can go to a Walmart, Target, Home Depot and buy something they specifically need."
Gift cards can be dropped off at the Newtown VFW in an envelope marked "Oklahoma Support." Checks can be made out to "Newtown VFW 308" and marked "Oklahoma" in the memo line, and cash and checks will be used toward gift cards.
"The Newtown VFW wants to pay back -- to pay forward -- the kindness that everybody gave to Newtown," Randle said.
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