NewsWest 9
MIDLAND/ODESSA - Ever since the crash first made headlines a few days ago there has been an overwhelming response of support from the community.
Donations for the families affected have been pouring into local banks and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
"I don't think you need any tie to the military necessarily in any direct fashion to feel for these families," Tony Brown, with the Odessa Jackalopes hockey team, said.
Over $125,000 has been deposited into an account benefiting the veterans and families. That's just at Complex Community Federal Credit Union.
The Odessa Jackalopes are pitching in this weekend.
"If a fan buys a ticket to either one of those two games, 100% of that money is gonna go to the Complex Community Federal Credit Union relief fund for these families," Brown said.
The Jacks are hoping to bring in a big crowd.
On Tuesday afternoon, about 50 residents of Lincoln Tower in Odessa held an auction.
"We actually raised $924 and we had a lot of fun having an auction to raise money for a good cause," Community Manager, Sam Martin, said.
Martin said the staff and seniors felt compelled to help.
"When we heard about what happened, everybody felt terrible," Martin said. "We have a large veteran community here."
Over in the Tall City, Midland College cosmetology students are cutting hair and giving manicures for donations at Tuesday night's basketball game.
"We were actually gonna take money towards a scholarship for our students but once this incident happened we thought that was a little bit more important," Cosmetology Director, Michael Fields, said.
Fields said the tragedy has been felt by everyone.
"I come from a family of veterans," Fields said. "Everybody in my family except for myself has been into the military so of course it hit me close to home. This was a great opportunity to give back."
And everyone can agree, this is the least they can do for those who gave so much.
"For these people that not only sacrificed so much for our country during their military service and then have to come home and deal with something like this, it's something that touched not only those victims and their families but everybody in this community and we just wanted to do our part," Brown said.
