Story

Rotary Club of Covington's Pandemic Project
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
By Jackie Gutknecht

In early March, when the Corona Virus Pandemic hit the U.S. many retailers across the country were at a loss for what to do with excess inventory as the economy came to a standstill and shoppers were being asked to stay home. One major national retail store’s overstock warehouse immediately felt the impact.

The warehouse had an overwhelming quantity of goods that had been returned form the regional stores that were either seasonally out of date or not moving off the shelves.

Previously, the warehouse manager had sold the items at a fraction of the cost to another company to maintain a slight profit rather than taking a loss on the overstocked items. As the pandemic continued, that company no longer wished to purchase or haul the excess inventory and the retailer’s warehouse became overwhelmed as it continued to collect the excess goods from the region’s stores.

“That’s when opportunity made its way to the Rotary Club of Covington, Georgia,” Club Administrative Chair Doug Bolton said. “One, actually two, of the club’s members own trucking companies. A driver for one of those companies just so happened to be on a delivery when a friend who was the director of a nonprofit asked if the driver could pick up a load of donated goods nearby. The driver asked permission from the owner and the owner, being a Rotarian, immediately agreed if it would help someone in need.

“However, he told his driver he wanted to make contact with the warehouse manager to ensure the request was valid. Contact was made, and the manager assured that they did want to donate the goods. Then the Rotarian was asked if he knew of any other nonprofits in need.”

That Rotarian happened to be Tarrence T. Houston, the club’s foundation chair, and he worked with the manager to provide all of the 501(c)3 information needed to start taking in the excess inventory for donation.

“Almost immediately the manager asked if a tractor trailer could pick up a load,” Bolton said. “Tarrence said absolutely and went to pick up the load himself. He returned to the city of Covington to his trailer lot. He had a full trailer load of just about everything the retail stores sold – clothes, household goods, cleaning supplies, over the counter medicines, books, school supplies, food items, etc. While the club board was excited and knew they could help a lot of people in the community in need, the logistics of where to store, sort, organize, and distribute became quickly obvious.”

As fate would have it, the other club member who owned a trucking company – the club’s GRSP Chair Wayne Pugh - advised that he just happened to have an empty warehouse that could be used.

“The generosity of the two trucking company owners to use the trucks and trailers and the warehouse cannot be understated,” Bolton said.

During the following two months 10 trailer loads of goods were donated by the generous warehouse manager who asked not to be identified by name or company.

Approximately a quarter of a million dollars worth of goods were distributed to more than 50 nonprofits by the Rotary Club of Covington and thousands of individuals in need were served during a time when many could not afford to purchase those items. As the virus became less of a threat, the company that had been purchasing goods from the warehouse resumed its routine, and the donations to the Rotary Club of Covington ceased, but not before a huge impact was made on so many lives.

“Rotarians are people of action and in a time where there was an uncertainty for the future, our members took action,” Public Image Chair Jackie Gutknecht said. “We are grateful for all of the volunteers who gave of their time and resources to make this massive undertaking a huge success for our community and region. Donations from this partnership spread far and wide and the impact will be felt for years to come.”

The Rotary Club of Covington was chartered in 1939 and meets weekly at noon on Tuesdays at the First United Methodist Church of Covington. For more information on how to get involved with the club, please visit www.rotarycovington.org.