Officials Praise ‘Hero’ of Storm-Relief Cargo

Eleven days after his truckers delivered a precious cargo of relief supplies to South Florida victims of Hurricane Andrew, Darryl Godwin got a pat on the back Tuesday from Los Angeles County officials.

Godwin was praised as a “modern-day hero and good Samaritan” in a brief ceremony at the County Hall of Administration, attended by hundreds of county workers who had come to protest controversial budget cuts.

“In these hard economic times, when many new businesses are hurting, Darryl’s generous and selfless donation to this great humanitarian effort is all the more commendable,” County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said.

In the past, Godwin, 33, has shied away from publicity for himself and his fledgling trucking firm, Draker Air Support Inc., saying he only wanted to help the many victims of what has become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Earlier this month, Godwin came to the rescue of federal employees at the Palmdale Air Traffic Control Tower and Air Force personnel at the Plant 42 assembly and testing facility who helped raise nearly 70 tons of relief supplies for homeless colleagues at installations in the Miami area.

The federal employees had hoped to fly the goods to the hurricane victims. But they were told by the Pentagon that military cargo planes were unavailable.

After hearing news reports about their plight, Godwin told FAA relief volunteers that he would provide three 18-wheelers with volunteer crews. When those crews pulled out at the last minute on Sept. 8, Godwin contracted out for three more and paid them more than $3,000 apiece out of his own pocket.

After being packed full of food, water, clothing, furniture, baby formula and stuffed animals, the freight liners spent three days and nights on the road from Palmdale to Miami. They finally pulled into Tamiami Airport in suburban Miami on Sept. 11, allowing some of the supplies to be disbursed to hurricane victims before the start of the weekend.

The supplies have been stored in makeshift tents at the airport for use by an estimated 160 FAA employees made homeless by the hurricane and the countless others whose homes were damaged.

Godwin, a North Hollywood resident, hasn’t sought any publicity for himself or his West Los Angeles trucking firm. But company employees said Tuesday their business has picked up significantly since the relief mission was publicized.

“We’ve become inundated with freight,” said Draker Operations Manager Maria Oliver. “Things have become crazy.”