SLIDELL, La. — South Louisiana is more often on the receiving end of hurricane relief.
So, when people in the mountains of western North Carolina were hit hard by Helene, St. Tammany Gives Back sprang into action.
Co-organizer Dan Crowley said for the people of Hendersonville, NC, about 15 miles outside of Asheville, this was their Hurricane Katrina.
“The storm of Katrina, we did okay until the levees failed and it was a changing event for us,” Crowley said. “Same thing with them, the storm went through and there was rain and there were issues, but then they had multiple dams that gave way.”
Crowley, Greg Johnson, and their partner Andy Frisard started collecting non-perishable food and supplies over the weekend.
“As we lay our heads to go to sleep in our comfortable warm bed and everybody knows the feeling of being helpless because of the storms,” Johnson said. “These people are currently helpless right now.”
Among the helpless, Crowley’s brother-in-law, sister-in-law, their children and five grandchildren who live in Hendersonville.
“I’ve had the ability to text with my brother-in-law and niece and it’s complete devastation,” Crowley said. “They’re probably going to have to walk down off the mountains because the roads are gone. The city itself is still underwater, still surging rivers going through.”
The goal is to continue to collect supplies over the next two weeks to fill up the back of an 18-wheeler, then head up to North Carolina on October 15.
“We’re a small community,” Johnson said. “We can’t save the world. But if we all come together and we all donate and we all do our small part whether it be a bag of beans or a pickup truck load of supplies, every little bit makes a difference.”
St. Tammany gives back is working with two churches in Hendersonville to help distribute food and supplies to those who need it most.
For more information on the hurricane relief effort and how you can help, click on the St. Tammany Give Back Facebook page here.
