Central Florida volunteers create COVID-19 relief kits for homeless veterans

The volunteers put together 250 kits with much-needed items

ORLANDO, Fla. – Volunteers came together in Orlando Thursday to assemble COVID-19 relief kits for formerly homeless veterans and their families.

The project was organized by the Home Depot Foundation, which has a mission of improving the homes and lives of U.S. military veterans and aiding communities affected by natural disasters.

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“It’s a great feeling. It just gives us so much pride for ourselves and through our company to be able to support the efforts to take care of our veterans,” Area Supervisor Kristen Price said.

The Home Depot teamed up with Volunteers of America of Florida (VOAF) to assemble 250 bags filled with essential items.

“It’s full of great products that are going to help our homeless veterans,” VOAF President Janet Stringfellow said. “They get their sanitizer, some important cleaning supplies and typically our volunteers do it in record time.”

The kits were also packed with notes from volunteers that thanked the veterans for their service to America.

“Our associates have filled some of them out just to see how excited they were to say ‘thank you for your service.’ They are very proud to be part of this project,” Stringfellow said.

The kits that were assembled on Thursday will be distributed to veterans throughout parts of north Florida that includes Jacksonville and Pensacola.

“To see the impact in their soul. You see the big smile, and how much it meant for them,” Stringfellow said. “We haven’t forgotten what they did and the sacrifices it took to be a veteran.”

For details about contributing to future volunteer efforts, visit https://www.voaflorida.org/ or https://corporate.homedepot.com/foundation

To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter and go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.


About the Author

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.

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