Jeep drivers swarm East Palestine to support small business

One community of Jeep enthusiasts took to the road in a swarm to support small businesses in East Palestine.

Terri VanDyne Graleski, an R.N. living in East Liverpool, connects with other Jeep drivers using Facebook.

She’s followed the news updates on East Palestine after the Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled chemicals, impacting daily life for everyone nearby. The clean-up process is expected to take three months.

Why is the jeep owner supporting East Palestine?

Even though the Ohio EPA found no chemicals in municipal drinking water and continually tested the air, that hasn’t stopped people from speculating and some from avoiding any visits to East Palestine, impacting business.

She described it as people assuming a “black cloud” is sitting over East Palestine, making people stay away for no reason. It’s approximately a half hour away from East Liverpool, where she lives.

Graleski said she felt called to help after seeing posts about people in East Palestine still struggling to go about regular business.

“We’d heard so many rumors about schools not coming in, not letting kids play [games] there, businesses suffering due to people canceling their appointments, chiropractors having to work from a different town because no one would come in,” she said.

Graleski felt awful for the people inside and turned to her Jeep Facebook friends and community for backup.

“I started pitching this idea about a Jeep invasion, and a couple of local Jeep groups contacted me because they were already trying to think of something to do,” she said.

What happened during the event?

After clearing the idea with small business owners in East Palestine, Graleski’s fleet of Jeeps was ready to roll.

Jeep owners as far away as Cincinnati joined the list for the event.

“This is just what Jeeps do; if you look on Facebook, they’re always getting together for (a) fundraiser or to show support. I thought, what better way to do it than get a bunch of Jeeps in there and try to keep their businesses going,” she said. “I thought it went wonderful. It was what I wanted. The people were amazing, and they all turned up. Everyone was talking and supportive without all those Jeep people; this wouldn’t have been anything. I’m happy with how it went.”

Employees who work at Dogs on the Run, a hot dog restaurant on South Market Street in East Palestine, said they were thrilled by the amount of support from Graleski and the Jeep invasion.

“A whirlwind day. Thank you to all those who came to East Palestine and showed us some love. All our business owners were blown away by the outpouring of support. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your presence meant so much more than sales,” the owner wrote on Facebook..

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Get the latest Mahoning Valley news in your email inbox weekday mornings. Sign up here for our free daily newsletter.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow Mahoning Matters on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.