Kingsley man headed to North Carolina to deliver aid to hurricane victims

A Kingsley man is headed to North Carolina to take truckloads of donations to hurricane evacuees.

His journey will start next Tuesday -- where he will make the more than 700-mile drive with five friends.

The journey is personal, Richie Follen has aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who have been forced to evacuate from the damage caused by hurricane Helene.

He said the compassion he feels for those affected by the hurricane led him to collect donations and hit the road from Kingsley.

“I just want to help out my fellow Americans. That’s all I really want to do,” said Follen. “You know, I would hope they would do it for us if we had something go down like that up here.”

Follen will be working with a group of five friends by providing donated goods to the community and putting in a labor of love.

“I’m actually planning on restoring power, but I’m going to be clearing the service roads and roads that are impassable. I’m clearing the debris and trees and stuff out of the roadways.”

When Follen talked to his family, they told him about the evacuation process and how some unsavory characters were attempting to take advantage of people.

“Looting, People’s tires getting slashed before they even get into the city. All sorts of things like that.”

Hurricane Helene left multiple counties in North Carolina without power and in need of essentials.

Reed City native Justin Collis, who moved to North Carolina three years ago, says the donations provided by people like Follen give him renewed faith in humanity.

“It’s amazing, we’ve had a lot of different people come from different states to help the community, and it just shows that we’re not a failure as a human race.”

But Collis also has a message of caution for anyone bringing donations to the state.

“Listen for tree branches, listen to trees that are about to come down. Landslides are still capable of happening. You know, be careful,” Collis warns. “There’s a lot of people that are hungry and need water. And, you know, in these times, it can get dangerous if you have those supplies. I would recommend, keeping your head on a swivel and just doing the best you can to stay safe.”