ROLLING FORK, Miss. — A Little Rock-based company is accepting donations and shuttling them to help Mississippi tornado victims.
On the edge of Rolling Fork, the Pain Treatment Centers of America (PTCOA) clinic still stands. It is more than what many of the people who worked there can say.
“We have a total of about 10 employees in Rolling Fork, and about four of them lost everything,” PTCOA Human Resources Director Richard Tillman said.
Homes, vehicles, pets, and more were all taken in the mile-long EF-4 twister.
“Our practice manager here was able to get to her basement, and then she had to be dug out of her basement because the home was just collapsed on top of it,” Tillman said.
He added even before his employees asked for help, others chimed in.
“As soon as I heard this was going on, I started getting calls from our staff in Arkansas wanting to know how they can help,” Tillman said.
Each one of PTCOA’s 15 locations has been accepting donations from employees. At its Shackleford clinic a box filled by staff had been emptied three times Monday morning. Three employees had already filled their cars and driven them to Rolling Fork, including Tillman, and he says each location is currently willing to accept donations from the community.
They ask people please consider donating:
* Clothing- All Sizes (new clothing only)
* Blankets
* Toiletries
* Toys
* Cleaning Supplies
* Sunscreen
* Insect Repellant
* Canned Goods
* Ziploc Bags (Gallon)
* Large Trash Bags
“That’s pure Arkansan right there,” Paul Bonham said. Bonham is a patient at Pain Treatment Centers of America clinic, who saw the donation box in the Shackleford Drive clinic Monday.
Bonham is from Mountain Home and says being from a small town himself this disaster moved him to donate.
“A town just blew away completely. You know it’s unbelievable,” Bonham said. “I’d like to do all we can to help them.”
PTCOA is working to get its Rolling Fork team back on its feet first with donations so that their clinicians can begin helping the many people affected by the tornado that killed at least two dozen people.
“Anything over and about that will be given to the community because it’s not just our who was impacted. There’s a lot of people who lost everything,” Tillman added.
The Rolling Fork PTCOA clinic received a generator Monday and water services were restored, so they plan to reopen on Tuesday. Arkansas clinics accepting donations can be found in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Hot Springs, Conway, White Hall, Searcy, Jonesboro, Texarkana, Fort Smith, Bentonville, and Fayetteville.
Mississippi locations include Greenville, Rolling Fork, and Greenwood. Exact locations can be found by visiting PTCOA.com.