The storm was coming and they wanted to be ready.
As Hurricane Irma was preparing to make landfall in Florida, Beltmann Relocation Group was preparing for the worst. The branch in Atlanta purchased $10,000 worth of water and food, which they planned to deliver to the areas that were most severely impacted once the storm had passed.
Meanwhile, South Florida native Eric Klause, a driver for A-1 Moving & Storage, an Atlas Van Lines agent, was in Norfolk, VA with an empty truck and a desire to help the folks back home. He reached out to Move For Hunger to see if we'd be able to help point him in the right direction. While we were in the process of searching for donors, however, he got word that a marketing agency in Connecticut had several of pallets of food available to anyone who wanted to come and pick them up. Klause was willing to go anywhere in the Northeast, so he made the 450-mile drive to collect the goods.
Early reports had projected that Miami would bear the brunt of the storm. If the models held true, then Pompano Beach, home to one of Beltmann's branches, would almost certainly get hit hard, too. Beltmann believes in giving back to the communities they serve, so the original plan was to deliver the supplies to that area. Hurricane Irma, however, weakened and took a more westerly path. So, Battina contacted us to ask where was the best place to deliver this massive supply of food and water. From our conversations with Feeding Florida, we learned that they were all in need of donations.
We knew that Klause would be passing through Atlanta on his way back to Florida. We also knew that there was a number of transportation challenges plaguing the state as a result of the storm. If we could consolidate everything into one shipment, it might ease the burden on everyone. The only question was whether or not Klause had room in his trailer to accommodate the 23,000 lbs. of cargo Beltmann had at their warehouse. After exchanging some logistical details, Klause confirmed that he had space and that he'd be willing to pick up the goods Beltmann purchased and deliver them to the Treasure Coast Food Bank in Fort Pierce.
On any other day, A-1 Moving & Storage and Beltmann might be competitors, but in the face of a crisis, they found a way to come together for the greater good.
"We're competitors, but when it comes to emergencies that all goes out the window," said Andy Newitt, A-1 Moving & Storage's Director of Business Development. "We are open and available to help when the opportunity presents itself."
Battina said they would have found a way to get the supplies to Florida eventually, but that A-1 was in a position to deliver even faster. And in the midst of a natural disaster, time is of the essence.
A-1 Moving & Storage, which is based in Jupiter, was spared the worst of the storm, but Newitt said that he and his staff still felt the impact.
"All of our employees were affected in some fashion. Most of us had power outages and there was a lot of tree damage."
Klause delivered the non-perishables he picked up in Connecticut to a distribution warehouse in the Keys. He said that area fared a lot worse.
"It's a mess. There's definitely a lot of damage, a lot of flooding. I saw a lot of fences and trees down. Sheds that you can tell used to be on the other side of the highway. Most of the businesses are closed."
There's clearly still a lot of work to be done in Florida, not to mention Texas and Puerto Rico, as the people there continue to recover from these devastating storms. We're proud to work with companies like Beltmann Relocation Group and A-1 Moving & Storage, who were able to respond rapidly during this time of great need.
