How to help western NC communities after Helene devastation

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Roy Cooper will head to the western part of the state Monday following catastrophic damage from Helene. Dozens, if not hundreds, of roads remain blocked by trees or debris, or completely washed away after the storm.

Over the weekend, emergency management crews said all roads in the western part of the state should be considered closed.

Help has been pouring in from across the state. There are several donation drives and initiatives in and around Wake County to help. Here are some of them:

• Hometown Martial Arts in Raleigh, The Can Opener in Durham, and Bond Brothers Beer Company in Cary are all serving as drop-off sites for donations. They’re collecting plastic utensils, can openers, trash bags, new socks, and more. Donations will be accepted during each business’s hours of operation until Friday at 5 p.m.
• The No Woman, No Girl Initiative has created an Amazon Wish List for people to directly shop from, with feminine hygiene, toothbrushes and hand sanitizers as some items in mind to send to those in need.
• The Durham Rescue Mission is accepting donations of cleaning supplies, water, diapers, and more. They’re collecting those donations on Monday at their Durham location.
• The North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund is accepting monetary donations. You can donate at nc.gov/donate
• The United Way of North Carolina launched the “UW Helps NC Fund.” You can donate at unitedwaync.org
• The Wake Forest Fire Department is accepting donations of water, non-perishable food items, baby formula, pet food and supplies, and more. You can drop donations off at Wake Forest Dire Department Station #1 at 420 Elm Avenue.
• According to social media, Dogwood Country Club in Raleigh is collecting donations of sports drinks, bug spray, sunscreen, baby formula, pet food, and more. Donations can be dropped off at their Raleigh location during normal business hours. They’ll also be collecting donations at 6 a.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
• Apex Baptist Church and Providence Church, within Baptists On Mission, are accepting donations of any kind. They also are seeking folks willing to volunteer at any of their feeding units at First Baptist Boone and Biltmore Baptist in Arden, or their recovery sites in Boone, Spruce Pine, Hendersonville and Marion.
• The State Employees Credit Union is accepting donations at local branches, such as baby wipes, bottled water and non-perishable food.

This list will be updated throughout the day.

At Dogwood Country Club in Raleigh, they even got help from their young kids.

“We’re all going ‘How can we help, what can we do?’” Elyssa Nastalski, the co-owner, said.

She and her husband put the message out on social media on Sunday that they were collecting donations and in less than 24 hours, they received piles and piles of food, cleaning supplies, dog food, baby formula and more. It’s all going into the hands of people who lost everything after Helene devastated Western North Carolina.

“It feels so good, and I can tell you the messages keep coming in, people asking how they can help, if they can tap into their network and when they can come,” Nastalski said.

They’ll collect donations until the end of this week. Getting it all there will be a team effort.

“We got in touch with the people from Operation Air Drop, I’m sure everyone has seen the highway collapse, it’s difficult to get out there, so these folks are using volunteer pilots and flying goods out to the mountains,” Nastalski said.

Some groups like the United Way and the Red Cross are encouraging financial donations rather than physical ones.

“Because of all the moving pieces and especially because of the road closures, it’s hard for us to mobilize the staff to pick up items that may be dropped at one of our chapter offices, get them to the right place and then distribute them,” Mike DeCinti with the Red Cross of North Carolina said.

It’s all to help communities as recovery just gets started.

“It’s really what I personally live for, I think when we’re given these opportunities everyone can help in some way,” Nastalski said.

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