"We were thinking maybe a couple trailers, a couple trucks coming up here...and it just blew up," said Matt Abner with the Northwest Indiana Truck Club.
FLINT (WJRT) - (2/15/16) - From Portage, Indiana...to Flint, Michigan.
A 235-mile trek conquered by a convoy of 60 pickup trucks, with 160,000 pounds of bottled water pulling behind.
It all started with Matt Abner, who came up with the idea to collect water donations for Flint a little more than a week ago.
"It's sad. [Flint needs] help. I thought 'what is the biggest network of people I could go through...to pull something like this off?" said Abner.
Enter the Northwest Indiana Truck Club, which Abner describes as 'a bunch of guys who are truck enthusiasts'. A member himself, Abner went to his friends for help, creating a Facebook page that quickly got over a thousand 'likes'. He also got some of his local businesses involved.
"We were thinking maybe a couple trailers, a couple trucks coming up here...and it just blew up. We never expected it to get as big as it did, but I'm glad it did." he said. "We've got over 68 pallets and 3,500 cases."
The club brought its massive donation haul to two State of Michigan distribution centers on Pierson and Clio Roads, Monday, but it wasn't easy. Blown tires turned the 3 1/2 hour trip into a six-hour pilgrimage of sorts, but club members say it was worth it.
"We all came together, pulled together as a big group and made it happen," said Ryan Hale.
Abner says the club will keep collecting donations for the next couple weeks. They hope to do another drop-off sometime soon.
