'The Right Thing To Do': Retired Taunton Fire Chief Collecting Supplies For People Fleeing Ukraine
TAUNTON (CBS) – When retired Taunton Fire Chief Tom Downey saw the devastation in Ukraine playing out on television, he wanted to help. Thanks to an outpouring of support from the community, he's able to do just that.
"All you have to do is watch 10 minutes of TV. Your heart breaks for these people," said Downey, who worked at Taunton Fire Department for 30 years.
Downey took action, turning to social media for assistance. He organized a supply drive, and used Taunton fire station as headquarters to collect donations.
"We only started about a week ago and we already have probably a tractor-trailer load of supplies to send out," Downey said.
Community members brought boots, baby supplies, personal hygiene items and even a few action figures. All of the items will be sent to Poland for refugees fleeing Ukraine amid an invasion by Russia.
"They left there with just the coats on their backs, so they need a lot of supplies," Downey said.
A truck will pick up the first round of supplies on Friday. It will likely take multiple shipments because of how many donations have been received. Downey said the only issue now is finding enough boxes to pack everything up.
"When I was chief we went to New York after 9/11. We were there for several days. When I came back, a man said to me 'Chief why did you go?' And without hesitation I said 'Because it's the right thing to do.' And this is the same thing," Downey said.
