Model volunteers: Talent agency fills U-Haul with food, clothing for the Bahamas

An Ottawa talent agency with a personalconnection to the Bahamas brought actors, models and other volunteers together Saturday to fill a truck with donations for people rebuilding after Hurricane Dorian.

Angie Sakla-Seymour and her husband Lou Seymour are nowdriving that U-Haul to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to meet up with a boat onTuesday.

That boat that will thenferry food, clothing, water and medication to the island of Grand Bahama. Once they're on the island,anothervehicle will load up skids with the goods for further distribution.

"To see all this lovejust coming for strangers,people they don't even know ...is very emotional," said Sakla-Seymour, who runsAngie's Models & Talent International, before they hit the road.

"We want to make sure it reaches people," added Seymour, who grew up in Freeport and still has family members on the island.

60 killed, 500 missing

Seymour's sister,her husband and their little boy were stuck on theroof their home for 36 hours after the Category 5 hurricane struck the island on Labour Day.

Sixty people were killed and another 500 remain missing, according to the most recent numbers from the United Nations.

The storm waters have receded, but the two hardest-hit islands, Abaco and Grand Bahama, remain mostly without electricity and water.

On Friday theUN put out an appeal for $10 million in additional aid.

Seymour said he was determined to deliver the goods himself, as he was concerned about aid not getting where it'sneeded most.

He first wanted to hire a plane, but they ended up getting so many donations that he decided that driving them down with a truck was a better option.

They also raised thousands of dollars through fundraising events, including arunway show last weekend.

'It's really touching'

"What happened in the Bahamas was so bad," said nine-year-old Abbie McDonald, who took the call for donations to heart.

She put together a show-and-tell for her class and convinced kids and their families to collect food for the effort.

"With all the food we collected, I hope we can help a whole neighbourhood," she said.

"It's really touching," said Sam-Ashe Arnold, who pitched in after his mom asked him to help.

"People are leaving notes in some of the clothes, like 'We're praying for you' and stuff like that. So there's a lot of kindness around here."

'A lot of emotion'

Carline Rameaucame all the way from Laval, Que., to sort clothes and pack boxes Saturday.

The Haitian native was forced to flee to Canada in the wake of the earthquake that demolished much of the island's infrastructure in 2010.

"It touches me, personally," said Rameau, whose17-year-olddaughterhas taken part in runway shows with the agency.

"It brings up a lot of emotion, because we went through this kind of disaster."