Comeback Coolers making a weekend run to Florida

BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -What started as a small gesture of aid and goodwill a couple of years ago has turned into a major relief effort.

The folks with Comeback Coolers are once again gathering coolers and other supplies, this time for victims of Hurricane Michael.

The volunteers got together Wednesday for a packing party to help sort through the donations and get the coolers ready to go to Florida.

The first Comeback Cooler effort back in 2016 collected nearly 30 coolers for flooding victims in Louisiana. This one, combined with those affected by Hurricane Florence, has collected more than 800 coolers.

"Their flooding was so bad and after what we went through after Hurricane Katrina, I brought cleaning products,” said Heather Eason, founder of Comeback Coolers. “But, after I was over there and saw huge piles of things and wondered what I could do as a little girl with a truck. I knew I couldn’t help them with that so I went over and over in my head and I remembered when my mom brought me a cooler of beer after Katrina a week later.”

According to Eason, 70 percent of the coolers that go down there have beer or other drinks; the other 30 percent are family coolers.

People who donate supplies and coolers write personal messages of hope, inspiration, and encouragement on the coolers so the people who get them will have a package of positivity as they clean up after the devastation left behind from natural disasters like hurricanes and flooding.

If you would like to donate to Comeback Coolers or volunteer to help pack ice chests with supplies, message Eason on the group’s Facebook page.

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