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By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter

PELHAM – Hatching Hope, a disaster relief organization, gave away PPE and helped provide free COVID-19 testing for around 500 families in need at an event Aug 15.

Hatching Hope partnered with the Ohio based Matthew 25: Ministries, Tina Knowles Lawson’s #IDIDMYPART campaign, Procter & Gamble, Southern Wellness Clinic and Southeast Clinical Laboratories, LLC to provide the free testing and supplies.

The event was held from 11a.m until 1 p.m. at the organization’s new location at 2758 Pelham Parkway, and contained “a variety of Procter & Gamble personal care and hygiene products from brands including Always, Crest, Gillette, Old Spice, Pantene, Secret, Tampax, Tide, Dreft and Oral-B, as well as basic PPE including gloves and masks,” according to a press release.

According to Hatching Hope’s Jessica Siniard, the event was very successful and the group ended up giving away all 1,000 of the PPE supply boxes they had prepared. As there were two boxes per family, the group estimates that they helped around 500 families.

“It was really incredible to see our volunteers come out and serve the community and provide the equipment for those who need help,” Siniard said. “After the event, we had people coming into our new location who were very excited and telling us how grateful they were that we were able to do that for them.”

“We were trying to find someone to do testing, and a week before the event we found this group,” Siniard said. “They had the capability of doing around 500 tests.”

Hatching Hope typically provides assistance to families displaced by fires or natural disasters, and helping families out in this way is something that feel strongly about. They realized that they could easily mitigate some of the financial stress of families just through these actions.

“We live in a time where masks and gloves and proper sanitation equipment is essential,” Siniard said. “We are so happy that we were able to give back to the community with those things that are essential.”