Denton County communities provide shelter for Gulf Coast evacuees

by PegNews wire

DENTON — Denton County and the communities of Denton, Carrollton, Lake Cities, and Lewisville have provided shelter for persons evacuated from the Gulf Coast area to Denton County. Here is the shelter count as of this morning:

UNT Coliseum (Denton) - 131 (La. residents by bus)

Camp Copass (Denton) - 117 (La. residents by bus)

Carrollton - 47 (self relocated evacuees by private vehicle)

Lewisville - 129 (self relocated by private vehicle and buses from La.)

None of the shelters are receiving any further evacuated individuals.

The United Way of Denton County is working with the American Red Cross and Camp Copass to provide for any shelter needs. The United Way of Denton County is accepting cash and check donations to their Disaster Relief Fund. These donations will be used to support local agencies identified as providing services for the evacuees. Cash or check donations will be accepted at the following locations:

United Way of Denton County

625 Dallas Drive, Suite 525

Denton, Texas 76205

Information and Referral

940-566-2688

First State Bank

400 West Oak Street

Denton, Texas

First State Bank

1400 N. Corinth Street, Suite 101

Corinth, Texas

The First State Bank Corinth and Denton Main Number is 940-349-5444.

The United Way of Denton County will accept cash, check, and credit card donations, at their office, 625 Dallas Drive, Suite 525. Visa and Mastercard donations can also be accepted in person or on the phone at 940-566-2688. More information can be found at this website.

Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 2, The United Way of Denton County has also opened a collection site where the public can donate specific items to address the needs of Gustav evacuees. The warehouse is located at:

4801 W. University, Denton, Texas

(Past the Selwyn School and next door to CBS Mechanical)

Hours of operation: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Only the following items will be accepted at this time:

• Diapers (all sizes)

• baby wipes

• new children’s clothing (sizes 2T, 3T, and 4T)

• pop up pack and play pens

• bottled water

• juice box drinks

• trac phones

• phone cards

• bags of ice (must be delivered to 600 Avenue D at the UNT Coliseum)

Volunteers are needed to work in the warehouse to process donations and in the United Way office to answer phones for information and referral. Please contact the United Way office at 940-566-2688 or e-mail community@unitedwaydenton.org to register as a LIVE UNITED volunteer. Please be prepared to provide the following information to register: name, address, phone number, t-shirt size, availability, and driver’s license or student ID number. We advise all volunteers to wear sneakers (no flip flops) and to dress light.

Denton County has set up a Help Line to provide information to hurricane self evacuees that have located themselves to our county. These self evacuees in Denton County can contact the Help Line to obtain information about local hotels, motels, banks, food banks, stores, and other information. The Help Line number is 940-349-4270.

The hours of operation for the Help Line are as follows:

 Tuesday, Sept. 2, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 Wednesday, Sept. 3, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 Thursday, Sept. 4, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Source: city of Denton