So here we are...two weeks since Helene came and re-arranged hearts,
lives and the land here in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Wow, hard to believe it’s only been two weeks and feels like it’s
been two years!
We are somewhat in a “sorting” phase
here now. So many supplies and donations have arrived and are still
arriving (And please know what I’m about to say is prefaced by the
fact that churches and organizations on the ground here have been
doing an AMAZING...on-the-fly adaptation to the everyday changing
process of distributing your donations and supplies. Killing it in
fact!) that most of these locations are asking for local (or any and
all) volunteers to come and help sort into more effective ways to get
them distributed faster and to those in need. Brilliant ingenuity by
those leading the charge on this!
That said, I’ve been
asked by a few of you as to where to send supplies and donations or
to whom to help with volunteering. Here’s the thing...please note
that this area is so incredibly dense with damage and destruction and
the like that you can basically pick a favorite thing of yours and
start there. Pick a category and they probably could use some
help.
For example, if you’re an animal lover, consider
donating to local veterinarians who are conducting (at a discounted
rate) vaccinations and spaying and neutering the youngins that need
it for pets that have been displaced and are currently fostered and
are in the process of being re-homed.
If you’d like to help in
these efforts please contact Emily Eldridge. She is doing incredible
work in an attempt to connect displaced pets with new forever
homes.
I could go on and on listing specifics like
this...but I compel you to do a bit of research first. Think about
what it is you love the most...assisting the elderly, assisting
families with children, assisting the lgbtq community, if you’re an
outdoor enthusiast and want to help with trail repair, if you’re a
music lover and want to help replace lost instruments, if you’re an
art lover, whatever your favorite thing is...look up businesses or
organizations in the Asheville and the surrounding areas
(Hendersonville, Fairview, Black Mountain, Spruce Pine, Marshall,
Flat Rock, Chimney Rock, Bat Cave, Cedar Mountain, Rosman, Saluda or
any plethora of others) that you could donate to or assist.
Let
me say this again...please do some research. One way to do this is
use the search function within Facebook and type in anything like
“how can I help artists in western north carolina” and then read
the posts that are listed speaking about these topics. Believe it or
not...the AI search function is doing a pretty good job delivering
reliable info in this way.
Many have asked where to bring
supplies and donations others have asked where the best places are to
locally volunteer (near Asheville and the surrounding areas).
The
following organizations are a solid resource in answering
the most immediate need questions (which are changing literally
moment by moment.)
Cajun Navy 2016
Samaritans
Purse-Boone, NC: (800) 528-1980
Anchor Baptist Church-Pisgah
Forest, NC: (828) 884-7610
Interfaith Assistance Ministry-
Hendersonville, NC: (828) 697 7029
Please also note
here...that I know I’m leaving out some other very incredible
organizations but there’s just not room to list them all...which
again is why I say...do your own research. Let your heart lead the
way to whom you are supposed to help.
The outpouring of
human-kindness is absolutely astounding to watch from the Western
North Carolina side of things!
I want to personally thank
each and everyone of you who have already been involved in donating,
gathering, delivering, coordinating and spreading the word!
A
great big huge Western North Carolina Mountain THANK
YOU!
#WNCstrong
*Please note if I didn't list
an organization that needed to be mentioned here as a reference or
resource...I did not do this intentionally. Again...too many to list
all of them so I just picked a few based upon what I've seen or heard
about their actions on the ground in these efforts.
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