NEGLEY – More help is headed to the East Palestine area to aid in the relief efforts in the wake of the February Norfolk Southern train derailment as the non-profit Soup Mama Official Inc. is set to bring 20 trailers of goods to the area Sunday.

According to Soup Mama Public Relations Director Carolyn Collins, her organization stepped up because it felt the federal government did not.

“When our organization learned that nearly 5,000 people who were impacted by the train derailment carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine did not qualify for direct financial aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, we were inspired to help them receive the support the federal government determined they would not provide,” she said.

The goods (which include non-perishable food items, water and air filtration devices, baby diapers, baby formula, pet supplies, personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies) will be distributed at the Negley Fire Department at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Residents of East Palestine and the other surrounding communities are eligible to receive goods.

“We want the people of East Palestine, Negley, Darlington, Rogers, Enon Valley and New Waterford and the other surrounding communities that were impacted by the rail disaster to know that they are not forgotten,” Collins said. “You have not been abandoned by the good people of America.”

Soup Mama Official Inc. is a grassroots organization incorporated in New York state that was built around the idea that a kitchen “has always been a place for people to gather and exchange ideas and information.” It states that its members are an autonomous group of patriots whose mission is to partner with all freedom-loving people providing direct support or educational tools that assist them in becoming involved citizens.” The movement began as a catering service to prepare and provide food for rallies that support the group’s ideals and evolved from there.

Soup Mama Official Inc. has partnered with fellow non-profit Jezreel International – a humanitarian aid organization that ships desperately-needed provisions around the world from its headquarters in Albany- to coordinate a convoy of trailers packed with disaster-relief supplies.

“This is what Americans do,” Collins said. “Whenever there is a crisis, whether it be a natural disaster, or as in this case, a man-made disaster, it’s the great people of this nation that step up and help out.”