Area women gathering donations for Harvey victims

When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas earlier this week, two local women took it upon themselves to help those impacted by the storm.

Kimmon Attashian and Terri Hull began a diaper drive to collect materials such as diapers, baby wipes, adult diapers and feminine products to send to Texas for those in need.

“Terri is a dear friend of mine and she texted me and said ‘what are we going to do?’” Attashian said.

The women said they wanted to focus on collecting specific items and found the Texas Diaper Bank, which provides necessary items in emergency situations for parents. The bank collects the items and creates baskets to distribute to the shelters so when parents come in they can have necessary items such as formula and diapers. For those parents, it can provide a lot of relief knowing their children can be taken care of, even in an emergency situation.

“As a mom, I would go weeks without eating as long as my kids are taken care of and I think most parents think that,” Attashian said.

The two women are collecting items from all over Northern Nevada. They have donation stations set up in Reno, Truckee, Incline and Carson City.

Carson residents can donate items at the Carson City Fire Station 51 on Stewart Street.

Carson Fire said it was ecstatic to do its part and help out by providing a space to store the donations from Carson.

“From the fire side, we want to help each other and we feel like in some sort of way we made a difference,” said Carson City Battalion Chief Jason Danen. “We thought it was a great way to help and we have a spot to store it so we thought it was something we should do.”

After the donations have been collected, Think Kindness, a Reno non-profit, will ship all of the materials to the diaper bank for free.

“It is important that everyone comes together and pitches in, especially when there is so much hate in the world right now,” Hull said. “I am most excited about helping moms and families in Texas.”

Hull said the reception from the community has been great.

“We are all connected as humans and people and mothers and women,” Hull said. “It is nice to see our faith in humanity restored ... we are putting our differences aside because this isn’t about politics, it’s about moms and the babies.”

The two believe this is only the beginning of what they can do for Harvey victims.

“I think this is the first wave of this,” Attashian said. “People want to help. We think we are far away, but we aren’t.”

Just from Sippee’s, Hull said they had collected more than 12,000 diapers.

“I am just excited about the compassion and humanity, it is exciting,” Hull said.

The women hope to continue this for many months, because the difficulties won’t stop once the flood waters recede. They’re already working on a second wave of donations through a possible drive with the Washoe County School District.

For now, there are five locations around Northern Nevada to donate items to: Carson City Fire Station 51 at 777 Stewart St., Carson City; Sippee’s New and Used Kid’s Clothes at 955 S. Virginia St., Reno; Michael Grace Salon and Spa at 1091 Steamboat Parkway No. 200, Reno; Perfect Workout at 930 Tahoe Blvd., No. 202, Incline Village; Conecta Tahoe at 127716 Northwoods Blvd., Suite 5, Truckee; Reno Ronald McDonald House at 323 Maine St., Reno.

The Carson City Fire Department will only be taking donations until Friday at 5 p.m.

The first set of donations will be shipped out on Monday.

To provide monetary donations to help with the shipping costs visit https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MjI3NDA=