First, a followup to our Vinyls Needed in North Carolina article from last week. Andy McDonald, SVP, Government Affairs at OAAA contacted Insider
“I read your article this morning about the need for old vinyls in North Carolina. OAAA just wrapped up its Safety Seminar @ Formetco’s Duluth, GA facility yesterday, and we had the great pleasure of having Stefanie Cortez from Every Shelter present on its Emergency Tarp program. Every Shelter is a non-profit based in TX that collects old billboard vinyls and up-cycles them for use as emergency tarps to be used instead of “blue tarps” which are a much inferior product.”
Insider reached out to Stefanie Cortez at Every Shelter for some additional information on the Non-Profit Company.
“Emergency Tarp by Every Shelter is simple and commonsense: used billboards should be repurposed to create durable roof tarps for disaster survivors. Per FEMA, the best option in a disaster is for survivors to be able to shelter-in-place which allows an immediate working solution until timing and/or funds are available to repair the home. The reality is, the existing solution is not durable enough for the time a survivor needs before a repair can be made. The market needs stronger, more durable tarps. We take donated billboards and turn them into disaster tarps by folding them in half and sewing around the edges not only protecting the advertisement inside, but also providing an even more robust solution to disaster survivors. Please contact Stefanie Cortez (stefanie@emergencytarp.org) to donate your billboards and turn them into safety for survivors after disaster.”
We also heard from TJ Bugbee, NCOAA Executive DIrector for an update on Billboard Operators in the more impacted areas.
“Just got home, a buddy and I just got back from hauling 18 pallets of vinyl to WNC for tarps.
Overall, the damage to homes, infrastructure and loss of life was terrible.
As far as I can tell, in terms of billboard structure issues, it wasn’t terrible, but haven’t been able to fully confirm. I do know my folks out that way are safe though. A few felled structures from one member with inventory in the northwestern part of the state. I don’t believe my folks in Asheville and west have really been able to fully assess their inventory.”
Insider’s Take: there is still a lot of work to do after Helene moved through the southeast and the next hurricane, Milton may hit landfall today. Great opportunity to step up and help out to those in need.
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