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Thousands of pounds of supplies flown to the Bahamas: Sol Relief adjusts as needs change

Sol Relief has made 26 flights to the Bahamas during the past 5 days.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Bahamas were left in absolute disarray after Hurricane Dorian sat over the islands for more than 36 hours.

Since then, people from all over the world are rushing to get supplies to those stranded there. However, the efforts have left the islands' airports congested and crowded, making the delivery of aid difficult.

Now, only official planes and relief organizations are being cleared to enter the country.

Sol Relief is a local organization that has continued to make flights to the Bahamas and it has been swarmed with both donations and volunteers.

RELATED: Dorian still slamming eastern Canada at hurricane force

RELATED: Tampa Bay Rays are taking donations for Dorian relief efforts in the Bahamas

“It’s one of the largest displays of love I’ve seen in a long time," said Jennifer Sunshine, a volunteer coordinator at Sol Relief. Sunshine originally stopped by Alfred Whitted Airport to drop off supplies. 

A couple of hours later, she was volunteering to stay and help run the donation drive. She is just part of the organization's growth. 

Sol Relief has grown from a volunteer operation of about five people to a daily team of 150-plus.

“What I’ve seen these people do physically in the past couple days is something that you don’t witness very often and it makes you believe that people are willing to do the right thing," Sunshine said.

The non-profit is entirely volunteer operated and has been organizing to get desperately needed supplies to the Bahamas all week long.

“Pretty much Tuesday was our kick-off on flights. And as of yesterday, we’ve flown 26 flights with aid -- and about 52,000 pounds of aid," said Mark Auchtung, a volunteer who focuses on logistics for Sol Relief.

The non-profit has now put a temporary hold on all supply donations so they can access exactly what those in the Bahamas need and what to bring.

Sol Relief is still accepting monetary donations. At this point, they have reached $272,428.88 in private donations. A local businessman has agreed to match donations up to $500,000.

RELATED: SOL Relief: More than $272,000 raised toward dollar-for-dollar match for Hurricane Dorian relief

RELATED: Help is on the way: Bay area pilots are flying supplies to the Bahamas

And their planes have not all been empty on the flights back.

“We also brought back over 25 evacuees," said Auchtung, who went on to explain that this was a decision made in the moment. “When they got to Tampa, they cleared customs. It took a while because we brought them in unannounced. So we are working on that infrastructure to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But it’s tough." 

Auchtung had to pause as he choked back tears. 

“You get over there and they have passports and they need out. They have homes that are gone," he said. "And we are leaving in an empty plane, you can’t leave them on the ground.”

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