MOBILE, Ala. | You would have thought they hadn't yet packed the plane for Wednesday's relief trip.

Mounds of boxes - each labeled to identify the contents, many with scribbled messages of love and prayers - sat in the shadow of the Hooters Air Boeing 737 about to take off for Mobile, Ala., with one of the Grand Strand's largest relief efforts.

The plane, jammed as full as weight limits would allow, left behind more cases of water, clothes and supplies than it took on this initial trip. Tractor-trailer trucks will take those donations, and others still coming in, next week.

"It looks like we didn't even put a dent in it," Hooters flight attendant Sallie Hicks said as she took critical diabetes medical supplies from the leftover boxes and put them into a bag to pack into overhead compartments.

What did make it - more than 20,000 pounds of life's basic needs - barely makes a dent in mending people's lives.

But for communities where the small stuff such as water and soap have become a big deal, the load was welcomed with open arms and handshakes. Two empty trucks were ready at the Mobile Regional Airport to take the Grand Strand's love into some of the hardest-hit areas.

"You brought the right things," pastor Aaron Fruh of Mobile's Knollwood Assembly of God Church said as he watched diapers and blankets being handed down the line of volunteers unloading the plane. "The areas we are taking this to are the poorest pockets, the areas that have not been touched yet."

These are the communities you haven't heard as much about in the week since Katrina's devastating hit: Mississippi's Long Beach, Pass Christian and Waveland. Just getting relief to the residents there is a challenge with roads out and power off, Fruh said.

These are the people who didn't have the means to evacuate, said Tom Deppe, a priest at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Mobile who is working with Fruh to accept donations. The three communities receiving the help are about 60 miles from Mobile.

"People can't get to the distribution," Deppe said. "We don't have a way right now. It's a moving target."

After dropping off the goods, the plane picked up nine evacuees identified through the churches to come to Myrtle Beach. Some will start a new life here, housed for free in the Breakwater Inn for up to three months; others will reunite with family along the coast.

The Gulf Coast's pleas for help prompted several Grand Strand businesses to pull together this relief effort, one they say has been amazing in generosity and hampered by government red tape.

"This has just taken on a much larger life of its own," said Jack Divine, one of the business leaders taking on the task.

The businesses spearheading the relief had hoped to have a full plane on the return trip, but because they were not recognized as a charity, that made it difficult to convince families to come here. Some people also did not pass background checks.

Still, it is a start, said Jeff Skelley, a Myrtle Beach developer who organized the effort. He went to the Gulf Coast on Saturday and returned Wednesday.

"There are just so many people we are leaving behind," he said. "It is so emotional down there. The people have nothing. They don't know their future."

Donations had been pouring in to Ultimate California Pizza in Myrtle Beach since Saturday. Volunteers sorted through the piles of goods in a Hooters hangar, nearly finishing when another truckload arrived Tuesday night. Volunteers such as Cathy Butler felt compelled to help.

"I haven't been able to get this out of my mind," she said during her fifth hour of volunteering Tuesday. "It could just as easily been us in Myrtle Beach. At least I know I'm doing something."

Gary and Phyllis Ross, vacationers from West Virginia, helped sort items Wednesday instead of lounging at Lakewood Campgrounds, prompted to help rather than spending time as many others have trying to place blame for delays in getting victims aid.

"This is just as much fun as playing in the water," Gary Ross said. "It seems like there is a lot of bickering going on. Seems to be the wrong time. People need to be doing more stuff like this."

In Mobile, the churches have warehouse space where they hope to house more donations. The need for supplies could last 18 months to two years, Fruh said. "This is not a six-week fix," he said.

Donations have come in so quickly that organizers in Myrtle Beach have not been able to tally the total.

"I've picked up a $1,000 check in Loris, then another $1,000 check. ... We've just been getting it in left and right," said Alton Swann of Around Myrtle Beach magazine, one of the relief organizers. "It's a continuing effort that is not going to stop."