Donations, supplies for the Bahamas pour into Tampa Bay relief centers

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Organizations across Tampa Bay are stepping up to help people impacted in the Bahamas.

Donations and supplies have been pouring in across the area.

Volunteers with Sol Relief are sorting through the items so it can be loaded onto planes and flown to the Island.

Three planes made the round trip on Tuesday.

Many more trips are planned in the days to come.

Landing on the island hasn’t been easy.

Runways near airports are flooded and washed out.

Mark Auchtung with Sol Relief said, “The first thing that has to happen is those runways have to be clear. So there are crews on the ground working on that. Once the runways are clear, we can get to the barrier islands. Right now our flights are going into Nassau.”

The devastation is not stopping the spirit of sharing.

A Tampa business man has offered to match donations dollar for dollar, up to $500,000 for the next two weeks.

Volunteers helping with the donations tell 8 On Your Side, they’ve been affected by hurricanes in the past.

“I’ve been in Andrew four weeks without power. Irma, four weeks without power. So I know what it’s like to be on the other side and if I can help, I’m helping,” said volunteer, Brenda Squires.

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