Even as Macon County was recovering from Tropical Storm Helene, people began rallying to help those in the hard-hit areas to the east.
Churches, organizations and businesses have organized collections while individuals have given of their time to volunteer and their resources to donate supplies and money. The Franklin Police Department and Macon County Sheriff’s Office collected supplies. Community fire departments sent members to other towns to help clear debris and shovel away the muck left behind from floodwaters. The athletic teams and clubs from Franklin High School, Boy Scouts and Bartram Academy students have been volunteering at collection sites.
Outdoor 76 owners Cory McCall and Rob Gasbarro were among the first businesses to step up to collect and deliver supplies. They started with a goal of filling a 12-foot enclosed trailer with whatever supplies they could collect, but with community donations they far surpassed that. In five days, they collected 14 trailers filled with more than 70,000 pounds of supplies. This past Saturday they received 20,000 pounds of supplies and redirected 17,000 pounds to other distribution locations in Franklin because they could not handle the volume of donations.
More than 100 volunteers helped sort, pack and load trailers. The supplies were delivered to Asheville, Old Fort, Cruso and Marion.
“People’s lives will be forever changed after what happened during Hurricane Helene, but things are better because you stepped up and filled the gap in a time of need,” the store posted on Saturday.
On Monday, Outdoor 76 said they were putting a pause on donations as they were beyond capacity and cannot receive any more items. They encouraged people to drop off donations at one of the other local collection sites. “We greatly appreciate your support, but we are turning our focus to ‘boots on the ground’ efforts in communities that need it most. Thanks to all for your overwhelming support and donations.”
Based on the contacts they have made in communities some of the specific items needed are cleaning supplies, paper towels, first aid supplies, kids winter jackets, generators, shovels, wheelbarrows, new 5-gallon buckets for kids care kits. The kids care kits will include coloring books, crayons/colored pencils, small stuffed animals, drawing paper notebooks, small kids games.
GR828
Over this past weekend, the GR828 intake and redistribution center was set up in the old Kmart in Westgate Shopping Center. Hundreds of volunteers showed up to help sort, package and load supplies for deliveries to other areas.
“We decided we needed to help,” said Amy Vanhook Anders, one of the organizers along with Benjamin Vanhook, Paige Johns, and VanDrake Land Clearing & Development.
Anders said they put the word out and donations started coming in “from all over the place” even as far away as Pennsylvania.
More than 200 flights were logged into the Macon County Airport with private pilots delivering supplies. Jimmy Goodman said they loaded 8 to 10 box trucks at the airport and at least half of those were taken to the GR828 distribution center. Anders expressed her appreciation for the airport staff. “They’ve been great.”
Anders said they have been networking with people from around the region to make sure the supplies go where they needed to go. She said some areas are getting more donations than others.
“We want to get to those less served areas,” Anders said.
She said the volunteers have been using their own trucks and trailers, cars and vans, and paying for their own gas to make the deliveries. “It’s all people wanting to help other people.”
She has been impressed with all the people who came out to help and commended the Franklin High School sports teams and the Interact Club for all their efforts. “They have been amazing, and the community has been amazing,” she said. Anders said they have partnered with local organizations to help with the collection and distribution.
Anders said they understand there will be a long recovery period for some communities and as the attention shifts or donations slow down, they will not be forgotten.
“We are planning to make this a long-term thing,” she said. “We are here for the long haul.” She said they have space to store the donations, and if in the coming weeks a community needs more supplies, they will be prepared to load up a trailer and make the deliveries.
On Monday the center moved from the Kmart building to Discover Church.
Town appreciation
During the Oct. 7 Franklin Town Council meeting, Vice Mayor Stacy Guffey and Council member Robbie Tompa expressed their appreciation for the people who have given of their time and donated supplies to help those in other counties.
“There are a lot of unsung heroes out there who’ve been, like some of my friends, all over the region in some really hard-to-get places, raising supplies and donations and taking them there,” Guffey said. “In every tragedy, there’s always some sort of brightness. And I guess the brightness is the sense of community throughout Western North Carolina. So, I’m just grateful for that.”
Tompa said he too wanted to thank all those who have reached out to help those here in Macon County and beyond. He had driven through Sylva on Monday and saw a drop-off site there filled with supplies.
“It’s just one of those moments of just the civility and the humanity, that we can disagree in super-political times and still come together for the greater good,” Tompa said. “It was just heartening to see that in such a terrible time and just continue to pray for the community, for the people that are still dealing with this.”
Town Planner Justin Setser reported that the town’s free WiFi system sees an average of 80-90 users per day, but on the Monday following the flood when cell and internet service remained out for much of the county, more than 3,000 people logged into the downtown WiFi.
During Monday’s meeting Mayor Jack Horton announced he was terminating the state of emergency put in place for the town on Sept. 26.
Horton said Gov. Roy Cooper called him the day before the storm to check on preparations. Horton said he told the governor, “We’re hoping for the best, but our staff and emergency services are preparing for the worst.”
“I do appreciate the governor’s call to check on us all the way out here in the west. And hopefully we won’t have to go through that again any time soon,” Horton said. “Hats off to everybody who responded, people still responding, and volunteers going over and working in areas.”
The mayor said he had talked to people in Transylvania, Buncombe, Haywood and Jackson counties and they appreciate the outpouring of help from their neighbors. “We put out the word that if there’s anything we can do from Franklin to help you through this crisis, don’t hesitate to let us know,” Horton said. “We hope that they’ll be able to go through this. But as we all know, the rescue part is about to complete, but the recovery part is just beginning. And that will take a long time.”
With the many roads and bridges to be replaced due to storm damage, the mayor said that might put a strain on the Department of Transportation budget and slow down some local projects. “But, we’ll hope for the best on that.”
Town attorney John Henning said the UNC School of Government several years ago put out information about how inland places can prepare for storms they might not normally get, adding that it seems there seems to be a lot more of the 100-year events than there used to be.
“There’s a lot of preparedness we can do to be ready if the next time it comes here and somehow Franklin isn’t spared. So, I think it’s going to become incumbent to start thinking of the next time,” Henning said. “That next big one can be right around the corner.”
Henning said he plans to start working with his clients on ways to be ready. “There’s a lot of legwork you can do to be eligible for FEMA grants and things that get you back on your feet a lot faster.”