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Help and hope: How the community rallied after the explosion

Posted at 10:12 PM, Aug 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-11 07:32:38-04

BALTIMORE — Around the corner from the blast that rocked a Northwest Baltimore neighborhood, you’ll find the good in this tragedy.

People of all ages out volunteering their time giving whatever they can to help the people that are impacted.

The American Red Cross and other community leaders were there all day and all night.

They provided food, drinks, air conditioned buses.

It’s turned into a mini market for people in need and people who want to help.

People from all walks of life stepped up.

Apostle Clarence Hooper Sr. with the Baltimore City Crisis Response Team served as a middle man for first responders.

“I’ve been talking to different loved ones that are saying they can’t find their loved one,” Hooper said. “We were taking down their name and information and reporting it to the fire chief.”

Rodney Booth was one of the first people out here.

He spent all day and all night organizing and making sure people got what they needed.

“Just to see how god brought everybody together all of this is gods hands,” Booth said. “To see it just blesses my heart. God receives all the glory this is gods miracle right here. Anybody wants to know what a miracle looks like this is it everybody here is a miracle.”

Caroline Youngblood survived the blast and is grateful for all the people who volunteered in the heat.

“I’ve never in my life seen nothing like this,” Youngblood said. “I thought at first somebody was shooting through the window.”

Her grandson James Watson rushes in to check on her.

She’s always shown him what strength looks like and set another example standing and smiling despite her home being destroyed.

“She has the heart of a lion,” Watson said. “She tells me all the time keep living and things get better.”

Throughout the day piles of clothes hundreds of gallons of water, food, and love poured in.

Vera Watson saw the explosion on the news and drove down to donate 5 cases of water.

“Anybody can Need help,” said Watson. “Anytime I see somebody that needs assistance I try to do anything that I can do.”

Becky Bramer, a local teacher saw one of her students when she came to donate some clothes.

“He just came up and gave me a big hug and started telling me what happened,” Bramer said. “His house it was like a block down. He had to evacuate and they have no electric or anything like that so.”

The American Red Cross said they’ve got a lot of supplies now and the focus is what comes next.

These people will need financial support and they are asking people to donate to recovery efforts.