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Help For Hurricane Victims 'Pouring In' From McCandless Gym Members

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MCCANDLESS (KDKA) -- Help is continuing to literally "pour in" from local donors reaching out to victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey in the form of drinking water and water for washing, donated by members of a local gym.

After Lou Martin, owner of The Workout Place in McCandless, saw the devastation on television, she says she felt they had to do something.

"People who have tragedies, we just help just like anybody else would," said Martin. "We couldn't go there, so this was the best we could do."

After Martin issued a challenge to her clients, they donated 100 cases of bottled drinking water and another 20 cases of gallon jugs of water in just 10 days. The gym also raised about $200 in cash donations.

Brothers Brother Foundation agreed to ship the items to hurricane areas. The decision about whether the water will go to Florida or Texas will be made after the organization inventories the donations and identifies which areas are most in need.

While Martin's gym is relatively small, she says the outpouring of support has been huge.

"I'm a small business, but I have really great clients," she said. "Everyone wanted to help."

And it isn't the first time the gym members have reached out to help the less fortunate. Each Christmas, gym members fill shoe boxes with items for men and women in a local nursing home, and last year, gym members filled a giant water-dispenser jug with spare change and raised hundreds of dollars for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

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