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Gov. DeWine returns to East Palestine

The DeWines stop to lend a hand at The Brightside Project

6 min read

By Stephanie Elverd

Special to The Times

SALEM -- When bad things happen, good people step up to the plate.

That was Gov. Mike DeWine's takeaway after he and his wife, Fran, stopped in to lend a hand with The Brightside Project's East Palestine Crisis Relief efforts on Wednesday.

"When things like this happen, as tragic as they are, people come together," DeWine said. "From the firefighters who were the first on the scene and who rushed in without a thought to what chemicals they were facing to the teachers who sent food home to their students who were impacted by this disaster and to the amazing people at Brightside who are doing such incredible work in getting those much-needed items to the people of East Palestine, there has been positive things to come from this disaster. It's a beautiful thing to see."

As the world watches the cleanup efforts from the Norfolk Southern train derailment and focus shifts to the possible environmental impacts caused by the disaster, The Brightside Project in Salem remains focused on the families and children who have already been impacted.

On Saturday, the non-profit organization, which was created in 2016 by Scott Lewis and his daughter Lisa Wallace to help the underserved low-income children, will hold a community-wide distribution event at East Palestine High School from noon to 4 p.m. The event will offer assistance to children ages 2-18 in East Palestine, Negley, Rogers, Lake Tomahawk, Darlington, Unity and New Waterford. Eligible families can receive water, milk, bread and other food items. Personal care items, pillows, paper products, air filters and nasal cleansing kits will also be provided.

"Water is a necessity but we've been focusing on the other things that people need to get through the disaster of the train derailment," Brightside Board Member Justine Rance said. "It's things like food and other non-perishable items as well as bedding and cleaning products that people need when something like this happens. That's what we've been working hard to provide to the people, particularly the children, of East Palestine."

The Brightside has been on the frontline of the calamity since it happened. Lewis, The Brightside Project founder and executive director, said the organization has already provided assistance to 250-300 families impacted by the disaster.

"We've been on the ground since this happened," he said. "We hit the ground running. We've provided food and water and gas cards to those displaced people who have trouble getting here to get the help they need. The most important thing is helping as many people as we can as quick as we can, and to provide things that sometimes are overlooked to people who are overlooked."

Donations have been pouring into The Brightside Project since the organization began its relief efforts. Those donations ranged from community members who are giving what they can to truckloads of items arriving daily.

"The response has been incredible. It's been amazing and a little overwhelming. Honestly, I have never seen anything like it. We've been getting donations from all over the country," Lewis said. "We just unpacked 700 boxes that arrived from the charity Matthew 25 in Cincinnati. We have truckloads of fresh fruit coming. Loads of bread and milk have been donated. We have 1,000 pillows and bedding. We've put together 1,000 sunshine bags to give out on Saturday."

The DeWines are longtime supporters of The Brightside Project. The center is the Columbiana County partner for the Ohio Governor's Imagination Library, in partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, and the Ohio First Lady made a stop in Salem in 2021 as part of that coalition to read to local preschool students.

Wednesday's stop marked the first time the DeWines visited the non-profit's headquarters, and both rolled up their sleeves and went to work alongside volunteers, putting together care packages to be given out at Saturday's event.

"Mike and I are happy to do anything we can to help the families in East Palestine," Fran DeWine said. "Kids will be kids and we want them to do be, but kids worry too because they see their parents worry, and we want to hear their worries and concerns. Right now, people are worried about the health and safety of their families, and, if we can do anything to help, we are going to do it."

The drive-thru event will take place at East Palestine High. Cars are asked to enter at Grant Street where families will be registered. Cars will then be directed through to Thomas Street to receive supplies. Photo identification and proof of residence will be required, and children must be present or a birth certificate presented to receive a pillow.

"Right now, we want to make sure the needs of the children and adults who have suffered the most from the derailment are met first," Lewis explained. "We want to help everyone but we want to focus on the communities that need help now. We want to alleviate as much stress as we can from those families."

The organization has received and filled requests since the derailment took place nearly a month ago. Calls for assistance continue to pour in, and the volunteers continue to do all they can, if that means just listening.

"People need a lot of things, but sometimes just want someone to hear their stories and what they've been through," said Wallace, co-director of The Brightside Project. "People are worried and they are experiencing anxiety and they just want things to get back to normal. These are good people going through trauma."

DeWine echoed those sentiments.

"The people of East Palestine and Columbiana County are resilient, but they need our help and they deserve our help," he said. "As the cleanup continues, we need to remember the people who have had their day-to-day lives impacted by this terrible event and to appreciate the positive things we've seen in the midst of this disaster like the amazing work being done here by The Brightside Project today."

Stephanie Elverd can be reached at selverd@mojonews.com

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