ST. LOUIS — It's been nearly one month since historic flooding damaged many homes and businesses across the St. Louis area, and the cleanup is far from over.
Thousands of families showed up at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis for assistance on Saturday, Aug. 20.
James Clark, Vice President of Public Safety, said about 3,000 families had already come through the drive-thru line before the event was even over.
The demand got so big that the line curved out onto the street and they ended up breaking the line into two lines so that people could get in and out faster.
"We're just happy to be here and happy to be a part of this solution," Clark said.
Car after car rolled up to the Urban League Headquarters on Saturday afternoon.
The City of St. Louis and the organization's corporate sponsors helped put the distribution drive on, according to Clark.
"We are responding to a great need in the St. Louis metropolitan area," he said.
Volunteers spent hours stuffing car trunks with food and cleaning supplies.
Clark said there was more reason than one that the Urban League put on this drive.
"Many families were impacted by the flood, but many families have never recovered from the pandemic," he said.
Going from resident to resident, Clark described it as 'heartbreaking' hearing peoples' stories.
"I've worked in this space since 1989, consistently, and I've never seen times like these," he said.
These hard times are why thousands of families showed up, according to Clark, from all over the St. Louis area.
"We were surprised, but we were prepared," he said.
One of the many in line was former Urban League employee, Mary Hayes.
Her garage and basement were completely flooded out from July 26's historic rainfall.
Hayes said her porch is 12 steps high and the water was at the 11th step.
"It was very devastating. It was kind of scary because when I kept seeing the water rising, I thought it might get into the apartment, but it did not make it into the apartment. I was thankful for that," she said.
Hayes lost everything from furniture to books, and this was the second time she has been flooded in this apartment.
"I'm not putting anything else back down there, as long as I'm living there," she said.
At the end of the day, Clark's wish is that every car that drove up drove off with much more than just supplies.
"We want people to take away a sense of hope, and then we want the people that we touch, to go out and touch others," he said.
Urban League volunteers ended up giving away all the food and cleaning supplies they had.
They even continued to serve residents hours after the event ended.