LAKE ELSINORE —— When Jack Martin hatched a plan three weeks ago to deliver local donations to Hurricane Katrina refugees in Houston, little did he know that his effort would garner so much attention.

Television crews, newspaper reporters and radio personalities —— both locally and nationally —— picked up on the story and followed it as Martin collected more than 170 tons of donations at the tattoo shop he owns, then led a seven-truck caravan and deposited the supplies at several shelters and churches in Texas earlier this month.

Even the Country Music Television cable network is getting in on the act, according to Martin, by producing a short documentary about the caravan to air sometime in the next few months.

The coverage has surprised the 46-year-old tattoo artist, who owns Ink Sanity on Riverside Drive.

"I wasn't looking for attention," he said Monday. "We put this together out of nothing and it turned out to be this huge thing."

Martin is to be recognized for his effort one more time at 7 tonight when he will be honored with a proclamation by the City Council during its meeting at the Cultural Center, 183 N. Main St.

"I think that's pretty slick," Martin said about the council's plan.

City spokesman Mark Dennis said Martin is being recognized because he was such an effective motivator when it came to getting residents involved in the relief effort.

"Jack Martin's rallying force was Hurricane Katrina," Dennis said. "Lake Elsinore's rallying force was Jack Martin."

Martin said that he would do it all over again if he could. Even if things got a little crazy at times —— such as when he got in an argument with federal officials at the Astrodome in Houston after they turned down his request to deliver the supplies to the shelter there.

Or when an evacuee swore at caravan members because she wanted a television instead of the clothes or hygiene supplies they had delivered.

Those moments were overshadowed by the amount of good the group did, Martin said, and by the memories they created —— such as when they were able to get a bag of insulin to an evacuee who needed it at a shelter. Or when police officials in Texas provided them a police escort and thanked them for their effort.

"It got a little out of control, but it worked out for the best," he said.

Contact staff writer Jose Carvajal at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or jcarvajal@californian.com.