Maddox: Parents taught us this is what you do [with gallery]
Published 1:56 pm Saturday, September 9, 2017
Amy Maddox, who grew up in Port Arthur, talks with a volunteer about tools and supplies available Saturday.
Harvey victims lined up for tools and cleaning supplies two hours before the giveaway began.
Amy Maddox, left, talks with Debra Scott, center, and Bobbie Scott about the tools and supplies available.
Two-year-old twins Titus and Trenton watch a video while waiting with their mom and grandmom for supplies.
Port Arthur native brings tools, supplies from Virginia
Two hours before Virginia-based Cortina Productions was to begin giving away tools to victims of Harvey Saturday, a line of people stretched down the sidewalk beside the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur. First in line were Bobbie Scott and her mother-in-law, Debra Scott.
“I’m looking for pry bars and shovels – we can’t get to anything in our house. Shop vacs and saws …. Basically, my husband is doing everything, so we need it all,” Bobbie Scott said.
“Money,” added her mother-in-law. “We need money.”
Amy Maddox, who organized the giveaway, greeted the Scotts with a sunny smile.
“We don’t have money, but we have everything else you need.”
Maddox convinced her co-workers at Virginia-based Cortina Productions to donate tools and building supplies to Harvey victims. She and her co-workers rented a cargo van to transport all the donated tools they collected to make the trip to Port Arthur. It was familiar territory: Maddox grew up in Port Arthur. Her late father, Bill Maddox, is the former editor of The Port Arthur News. Her mom, Mary Jane Maddox, who lives in Alexandria, Va., also was a journalist in East Texas.
“They were real community people,” she said. “They taught us that this is what you do.”
Maddox brought contractor bags, particle masks, vinegar, spray bottles, box fans and worker gloves, as well as pry pars, hammers, nails, and saws. Some of the tools had stickers, encouraging recipients to pass them on to others in need when they were done with them.
That was good news for the Scotts.
Debra Scott’s house, which her late husband built, is damaged. Her son will be remodeling it, as well as taking care of his own home.
Bobbie Scott said she was in line at 9:45 a.m. Saturday.
“A friend texted me about this,” she said. “I normally don’t get out early. But I heard they had all the things we can’t find at Lowe’s. My sister-in-law was going to bring supplies from New Orleans, but they decided to stay at home because of the other storm.”
