In response to recent flooding and a levee breach along the Green River, Lowe’s associates in Washington mobilized quickly to support local communities with essential cleanup supplies.
Lowe’s hosted a Tote Brigade event at its Auburn store, where red vest associates handed out more than 200 totes filled with recovery essentials. Each 27-gallon tote included disinfectant wipes, bottled water, goggles, trash bags and cleaning cloths, providing critical tools for residents returning to flooded homes and beginning the cleanup process.
The Auburn event was part of a broader relief push across the Seattle region. With this latest distribution, Lowe’s has now provided more than 700 disaster relief totes to flood-impacted neighborhoods in recent weeks, along with additional bottled water and recovery supplies.
“Nearly every associate in the store wanted to be outside handing out the supplies, despite it pouring rain.” said Eric Gibbons, store manager at Lowe’s of Auburn. “We had to remind associates that we still needed them inside to help our customers. My fellow store managers showed up on their days off to help out as well. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
The support reflects Lowe’s long-standing commitment to community disaster response. Since 2017, Lowe’s has distributed more than 100,000 cleanup kits, including buckets and totes filled with essentials, to help residents rebound after severe weather events.
“Lowe’s never fails to amaze me. They are always ready to show up when the communities we live and work in have a need,” Gibbons said. “It makes me proud to work for a company like this.”
In addition to immediate relief supplies, Lowe’s continues to stock recovery essentials at all area locations, including tarps, fans, chainsaws, rakes, trash cans and face masks. Associates are available to help customers identify the right products and share recovery advice tailored to their situation.
Many companies have values and behaviors that they champion, Gibbons said, “but Lowe’s truly lives them. Seeing the faces of my customers who are in need being able to show up and receive critical supplies needed was amazing. The relief and gratitude was incredible.”
He added, “Seeing each of the faces who came through the line and received their emergency supplies will be something I carry with me moving forward. It is a good reminder that no matter how bad things are, there is light at the end of the tunnel and that bad times never last. I love that I was able to be part of that.”
