East Palestine Crisis — The Brightside Project

The Brightside Project’s response to the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine

East Palestine is a small town in Columbiana County, just 20 minutes from where The Brightside Project is located. The Feb. 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern train derailment forced an evacuation for several days. In the weeks that immediately followed the derailment, The Brightside Project opened its doors at its Salem location to provide immediate assistance to families most affected. Through so many generous donations The Brightside Project was able to provide food, bottled water, gas cards, cleaning supplies, and more to the families who came to see us.

Moving Forward

On March 5, The Brightside Project transitioned from immediate crisis relief to sustaining long-term needs for the children of East Palestine and surrounding Columbiana County communities. The Brightside Project is committed to be good stewards of the donations entrusted to us and will be doing the following in the weeks and months to come:

Gifts and resources for East Palestine classrooms and teachers
Launching our Sunshine Bus in East Palestine this spring
Mental health resources for area children
Meeting the needs of individual children (healthcare, school clothes, school supplies and more)
And so much more to be announced in the future!

How can you get involved?

Give

Every dollar matters as we provide long-term social emotional support to the children of East Palestine. We will use your gifts wisely and efficiently.
Donate here.
Shop

Shop our Amazon wish list. Every item purchased will be delivered directly to The Brightside Project and used to stock the Sunshine Bus.
Shop here.
Volunteer

Throughout this process we may need extra hands to unload trucks, load trucks, sort donations, and more. Let us know if you have a few hours to give.
Contact us.

March 4 Drive-Thru Distribution

East Palestine families lined up for miles on Saturday, March 4, 2023, to attend the Drive-Thru Distribution. More than 400 cars representing more than 1,500 people lined up to go through the distribution line to receive bottled water, cleaning supplies, fresh produce, non-perishible food items, new pillows and bedding, gas and grocery gift cards, air filters, masks, and more.

Thank you to more than 800 individual donors across the country and the following businesses and organizations for making this event possible: Matthew 25 Ministries, Kaleel Bros., Quality Water Systems, Vogmask, Movin and Groovin Productions, Nasoclenz, Filterbuy, Pennex, Fresh Mark, Shirley J. Smith Attorney at Law, Dean’s Dairy, and Fluent & Ricciardi CPA.