Box after box, volunteers in Johnstown loaded up trucks with donations for victims of Hurricane Harvey.

75-year-old Bob Walker said he’s amazed by the generosity of people in Johnstown who want to pay forward the help they received after the 1977 flood.

“To me it’s human nature to want to help,” said Bob Walker, a volunteer. “We had a lot of damage. A lot of things we needed. People flocked to our area to help us out. Now, we’re trying to help them.”

The Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Convention & Visitors Bureau started the donation drive last week and word spread quickly.

“It’s amazing. I’m still just overwhelmed. I’m still astounded and so proud of our town, our community, our county and our region,” said Lisa Rager, the bureau’s executive director.

Six trucks will be filled to the brim with donations. Volunteers spent Thursday sorting donations and labeling boxes before the trucks leave for Houston on Friday.

“We’re trying to make it easier for they guys on the receiving end where the supplies are being delivered,” Rager said.

As a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the volunteer truck drivers making the 1,400-mile trek down to Texas, the visitors bureau is inviting the community to a special sendoff on Friday.

“Everybody that provided the time and the trucks and the trailers, they are the real heroes,” said Rager.

It will be a long journey for the truck drivers, but an even longer journey ahead for the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

“So we work a couple days to help them out. I’m retired so I can sit back and rest after this is all said and done. But those people, they have a long road ahead of them,” said Walker.

The sendoff will take place on Friday, September 8 in the Point Stadium parking lot in downtown Johnstown from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The community is welcome to sign a banner for the hurricane victims and cheer on the trucks as they hit the road.