North Texas Relief Agency Preparing Items for Midwest Tornado Victims

World Vision has 60,000 sq. ft. warehouse full of disaster supplies

"There, but for the grace of God, go I."

It is that common recognition that someone else's misfortunes could easily become one's own that spurs the desire to help others who need it.

And it is with that mindset that the North Texas employees and volunteers for World Vision International are hard at work gathering and preparing supplies for victims of disaster, like the recent tornados that have ripped through the Midwest.

World Vision International is a Christian-based relief agency providing support to people all over the world.  Currently they have a tractor trailer pulled up to their 60,000-square-foot Grand Prairie Domestic Disaster Headquarters, three-quarters full of supplies bound for Tuscaloosa, Ala., which was hit hard by tornados in 2011.

But at practically a moment's notice, other donated items could well be on their way to states like Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee.

"We want to make sure that we get the very best product to the people that are in need, and that is children and their families," said Phyllis Freeman of World Vision.  "We want to make sure that they are successfully recovering from an impactful disaster."

Freeman told NBC 5 on Thursday that the bulk of the items they give out were taken in through corporate donations.  For example, they may have an entire pallet full of toothpaste from the manufacturer, as opposed to care packages made up of individualized items.

"One of the things that we want to do is be relevant, and we want to be timely and we want to make sure that our product is shipped to an organization that has the ability to distribute," Freeman said.

World Vision primarily works with agencies like churches in impacted areas to determine who needs what, where.

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