Former Pennsylvania residents who live near Orlando are reeling with the news of the mass shooting.

The tragedy highlighted peoples' innate goodness for Lehighton native Jen Fahey."These tragedies don't define us. What defines us is how we respond. It's extraordinary. Peoples' generosity seems to have no limits," she said. "It makes you realize how powerful humans can be when we all work toward good."Fahey, who moved to Orlando in 1992 to work as a character at Disney World, now works as an account representative for the St. Petersburg-based OneBlood Inc., which collects blood and plasma.The company issued a press release saying thousands of people have come to its centers to donate blood.Fahey works at a center in Orlando scheduling and managing blood drives.On Monday morning, Fahey learned that a co-worker, Rodolfo Ayala, was a victim of the terrorist attack.Although she didn't know him, she said the tragedy "hit home."Ayala, who was with the company five years, worked in the lab.Human goodness is outshining the evil actions of the gunman."As awful as it was, the outpouring of emotions was extraordinary," she said. "People desperately want to help. I've been doing this job for eight years, and people donate blood for a variety of reasons.""Yesterday was a more primal reason. It was so intense, their need to donate," she said.Typically, the center where Fahey works collects 30-40 units during a drive."Yesterday, it was at least double that amount, just at that one location, in Orlando," she said."It was just extraordinary, the outpouring of assistance. People want to help. At one point, we had 300 people standing in line, in the hot Florida sun."Companies set up tents for shelter, and others donated food."People kept coming all day with water, and juices, and food. I've never seen anything like that," Fahey said.She has never been to Pulse, nor does she know anyone there.But she described the club as "nice, in a residential area.It's odd that it was that club he chose," she said.Carol Paupst, formerly of Indian Mountain Lakes development, lives in Mount Dora, 30 minutes from the Pulse Orlando nightclub."The atmosphere here is very, very heavy," Paupst said. "It's very sad."She was up most of the night watching the news. One of the newscasters teared up on the air."You can feel the sincerity," Paupst said.She said local radio stations went commercial free to provide constant updates and to allow people to post messages.Sunday she drove down to the Florida Blood Centers "Big Red Bus" in Altamonte Springs, Florida."It was very quiet," she said.Because of health reasons, Paupst cannot donate blood, nor can she stand in line.She asked how she could help."Everyone feels they have to do something to acknowledge this terrible tragedy," Paupst said.Marta Gouger contributed to this report.