Fresno Sikh community raises massive amount of aid for Hurricane Harvey victims

Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Fresno Sikh community raises massive amount of aid for Hurricane Harvey victims
Donations for Hurricane Harvey continue to pour in, and Sikhs in the Central Valley are working around the clock to make sure aid gets to the people affected.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Donations for Hurricane Harvey victims continue to pour in, and Sikhs in the Central Valley are working around the clock to make sure aid gets to the people affected.

"We've got food, baby food, regular food, canned food," volunteer John Gill said.

He says in addition to transporting the items, they also have a team of three men who are in Houston providing relief.

"They are there on the ground serving people, spreading all the stuff that went from the first truck," Gill described. "They are right there."

Gill tells Action News those men made a call a couple days ago letting them know there was a new need - cleaning supplies for those returning home to the devastation left behind.

"Like bleach, Lysol and stuff like that," he said. "So yesterday we got a trailer and a half of cleaning supplies from Costco in Fresno and sent that out.

This is their 10th trailer, and Guriddial Singh is the driver. He says he has driven to Houston a dozen times but this trip is special.

"It's a little from the heart," he said. "Just helping humanity, man, just letting them know that we are here for them."

Before taking off for the 1,800-mile trek, Singh stopped at a local grocery store to pick up 170 cases of bottled water someone donated last minute.

Then his team closed the trailer doors and taped a sign on the side of the big rig - a message to let people on the road know who they are and what they are doing.

"We believe helping each other, helping communities, you know," he said. "Basically Sikh values are American values. Somebody's in trouble, we go to help them."

And volunteers say as of now, they do not have another semi truck scheduled to go back to Houston. However, they say if more donations come in, another trip will be planned.