Support amazes mayor of Huntington

HUNTINGTON, Emery County — Mayor Hilary Gordon's phone hasn't stopped ringing since Monday. Likewise, there has been a constant flow of people in and out of her office.

The tragedy at the Crandall Canyon Mine has prompted an outpouring of support that the town of barely 2,000 has never before seen. People and businesses from England to Canada to Mexico City have all called Gordon offering whatever support and supplies Huntington needs.

Gordon said the prayers and support, both emotional and monetary, have been a tremendous help to the families of the trapped miners.

"Even if they're not hearing it audibly, they are feeling the vibrations," Gordon said. "They feel it."

A fund to help the families has also been set up. Donations to the Crandall Canyon Family Support can be made at any Zions Bank or by calling 435-687-2425. All the money will be split evenly among the six families, Gordon said.

All of the food distribution beginning today will be handled by the Red Cross. Gordon, who has only been mayor three weeks, said her small town simply didn't know at first how to coordinate the mass amounts of donations coming to her office. At one point she said they had more food than they knew what to do with.

But even though bigger corporations are now taking care of all donations, that doesn't mean her office is done contributing.

"We're not just going to back off," she said. "It's not in our nature."

Next Wednesday's regular City Council meeting is expected to be cut way short so council members can attend a benefit concert in the park. Brenden Jensen and her son Wyatt of Elmo are the ones organizing that event with the mayor.

Gordon said it's efforts like these, from the smallest donation to the largest, that show how the entire county has bonded. The mayor pointed to Huntington resident Olive McArthur, a janitor at Huntington Junior High, as an example of people doing whatever they can to show their support. McArthur has been spending an average of 17 hours each day at the middle school keeping the area clean where the families have been meeting and eating.

"Well, I wouldn't do anything else," she told the mayor.

Large corporations have also made donations, such as Wal-Mart, which is donating concessions for Wednesday's concert. Cracker Barrel delivered six small boxes to be delivered to the families, each with the word "faith" written on the outside. Gordon said she did not know what was inside the boxes as they were given to the families undisturbed.

Gordon said one of the significant things she has noticed by watching the families of the miners over the past week is how they have bonded with each other, despite any language differences.

"They are one family now," she said.