American Legions Seeks Donations For Relief Effort
By DOUG CARMAN

LAKE PLACID — The American Legion Post 25 is still collecting goods for the disaster relief effort in Central Florida.

People have until 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to send goods, groceries or cash over to the Legion for the bus.  By 9 a.m., the bus will head up to a FEMA distribution location for the scheduled 1 p.m. delivery in Paisley, bus driver H.S. “Squeaky” Schwichtenberg said.

Five Legion members are spending the day buying groceries and supplies, looking for toilet paper, soap, wash cloths and other essentials.  On Wednesday, Schwichtenberg and possibly two other Legion members will take the bus from Lake Placid.

By Tuesday morning, the bus was already half full.

“We have well over 2,000 worth of groceries so far,” Schwichtenberg said.

Mack Carroll, the commander for Post 25, said that anyone wanting to donate can drop off the supplies in front of the bus or at the front door of the American Legion building.  They are also accepting cash, which can be sent to their office.

Schwichtenberg said the American Legion is coordinating the effort with another Post in Umatilla as well as the VFW in Paisley.

This is one of many efforts throughout the country to respond to Friday’s deadly storms, which devastated parts of Central Florida and caused 20 deaths.