Gallery Furniture takes donations to help Houstonians during COVID-19 crisis
HOUSTON - Mattress Mack announced Sunday that all his Gallery Furniture store locations will now be collecting donations to help Houstonians during the Coronavirus crisis.
"I asked thousands of them how can we help people who are not sick in Houston? And the two big groups they were concerned about were senior citizens and the many, many children who are out of school unexpectedly," Mack said.
Mack said Gallery Furniture will be collecting donations for non-perishable food items and new, unused toiletries.
Those items will then be delivered to the senior citizens' doorsteps who've been asked to stay home and practice social distancing to protect themselves.
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"We’re going to ask for lots of volunteers to come out and pick these items up, take them to seniors home. We’ll leave them outside on the front step so we won’t contaminate that way," Mack said.
Mack was joined by Mayor Sylvester Turner and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who praised Mack for his generosity, yet again.
"The seniors are not in a position to go there and spend a lot of time at these stores, so this is one way of getting the things that they need to them," Turner said.
Antonio Medeiros said he appreciates Mattress Mack's kindness, especially during a time when his donut business in Cypress is struggling to provide for his 4-year-old daughter Rafaela.
"This previous week it dropped about 40% of what we usually do so it's making a big impact. Our mother was coming to help us with the little one for a while but she just canceled her trip due to everything that’s going on," Medeiros said.
Mack added that Killen's BBQ will also be providing free grab and go meals at the Gallery Furniture for students whose classes have been canceled for the rest of the month.
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Turner also urged folks to not hastily grocery shop in bulk, but rather, consider saving some items for first responders and health care workers.
"They get off work and they go to the store and the shelves are empty. But we are asking them to be on the front lines while the rest of us run scared and buy up everything else. That’s unfair to them," Turner said.
Donation items can be dropped off at any Gallery Furniture location from 8 AM to 10 PM.
Any senior citizen who wishes to be on the receiving end of Mack's help, can simply call the store 713-694-5570.
Additional ways to donate and help can be found here.