When Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath hit home for Jason Payne of Ball Ground, he took action, asking his co-workers at Piolax in Canton to donate clothing to send to victims. Now, his co-workers have been so generous, he doesn’t have a way to ship the clothing and blankets he’s received.

Payne had personal reasons to take up the cause of hurricane relief. His mom and her husband live in Staten Island, N.Y. Their home shifted off its foundation during the storm, and many other homes in the neighborhood were damaged.

“I was talking to my mom, and she said everybody has to go to the laundromat and wait hours upon hours, because everybody’s things are just soiled from the wastewater and everything. They’re overwhelmed,” he said.

Since the storm, Payne has collected about four truckloads of clothing, shoes, blankets and pillows to send to the Northeast.

Payne credits his co-workers’ generosity for helping him exceed his expectations.

“What it comes down to is that they’re good-hearted people,” Payne said. “They can see that if it was their family, they would want someone to try to go above and beyond to help them.”

Payne said he hopes to get the donated items to his mother, who can then distribute the donations where they are needed.

He had planned to pay out-of-pocket to send the donations via UPS or FedEx, but the cost of sending so many items has proven prohibitive.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I want to get this stuff to people who need it … there’s just no way I can pay a freight shipping charge,” he said.

For information, call Payne at (770) 687-4148, or email him at Jason_payne@hotmail.com.