COAL TOWNSHIP - Little did Marty Sinopoli know just how well her Facebook request for donations to aid flooding victims would be received.
Owner of Gigi's Gifts and Home Decor at The Plaza at Coal Township, Sinopoli has been inundated with acts of kindness since she made the post on her personal and business pages on Saturday.
"Within 20 minutes, I had a delivery of three bags of supplies," she said. "Yesterday (Monday) at one point you couldn't walk through one of my aisles."
One after another on Monday, people were pulling up in their vehicles in front of the store. Some were there to donate goods; others were there to pick them up and delivery them to the needy.
Distributions were made on Second, Third, Sixth and Arch streets and all of the Fifth Ward in Shamokin on Monday, she said. The effort also included Tharptown, and plans were to distribute items - water, cleaning supplies and more - in Ranshaw on Tuesday.
Also, Shamokin Area Community Hospital delivered 18 cases of surgical gloves, and AREA Services delivered $500 worth of cleaning supplies, she said. Dozens of individuals have come forward, too, including some who donated hundreds of dollars worth of supplies. On Tuesday afternoon, Original Italian Pizza in Shamokin came forward with a donation of 500 tickets for free pizzas.
Sinopoli was also able to send a truckload of items to Cornerstone in Mount Carmel, a charitable group that was going to distribute the goods to flood victims in and near that community.
"I got here at 10 today and there were two cars in front of the store with their doors open waiting," Sinopoli said Tuesday. "These are our people," she said of the typical outpouring of support at a time of need.
In fact, because of the overwhelming response, Sinopoli and her mother, Lori James, Shamokin, were busy Monday creating a new Facebook page, "Neighbors Helping Neighbors," that would allow donors and the needy to connect directly to make the process quicker and more efficient.
To that end, Sherry Romanoski, Irish Valley, and originally from Tharptown, was going door-to-door in Tharptown with her laptop, updating the "Neighbors" page as she went with specifically what people need and their addresses.
There are people from that Coal Township village who haven't had a hot meal since Saturday and are washing up in swimming pools because they don't have water service, Sinopoli was told.