<body><div>Laren Slaton felt helpless as she watched TikTok videos showing the devastation in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. But then she said she felt God put something on her heart: Get a box truck, load it with supplies and take it there.“I didn’t know how I was going to do it,” she said. “I just knew it was gonna happen.”With the help of people from across East Texas, it did. Operation Smokey Mountain, as it was called, was a success. Slaton is seeking more donations for additional trips to the storm-stricken state. Slaton and nine other East Texans took off Oct. 3 for North Carolina with a truck full of supplies and returned Monday after dropping off their payload at a fire station, ensuring it wound up in the hands of the people who need it. Slaton led the effort along with her daughter, Fancy, and friend Vanessa Lizeth. The process of getting the supplies together was almost like a dream — everything fell into place. Slaton and her daughter made a flyer and took it to local businesses to solicit donations. Slaton secured a Penske rental truck and raised the money to pay for it within an hour and a half. A videographer from Thunder Media created a professional clip spreading the message of what Slaton was doing, and soon after it was published, people from the Clean Cut Roofing Co. provided cash and supplies for the effort. Patterson Nissan provided a truck to help some of the East Texas crew get to North Carolina.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Dvayg_0w2vUpig00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Dvayg_0w2vUpig00" width="1662" height="1247" ><figcaption>Laren Slaton, right, poses for a portrait with volunteers helping people in North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene. (Contributed Photo)</figcaption></figure>“I’m just freaking out,” Slaton said. “People were coming out left and right, bringing donations of food and water and medicine and all kinds of stuff.”The crew also took generators and animal feed, among other supplies.Michael Lockwood, a local social media personality, used his platform to ask for donations. Lockwood, whose social media nickname is “Dr. Dew,” mixes wacky combinations of beverages and films himself chugging them."There are people out there who want to help and are willing to get them what they need,” Lockwood said. “All the things that they lost [that] were taken from them, we want to give them something even better.”The crew arrived Oct. 5 in North Carolina and headed to the West Yancey Volunteer Fire Department near Burnsville, one of the areas most drastically affected by flooding, to drop off supplies. Dos Rossouw, a White Oak real estate developer, drove the truck.“It was treacherous up in the mountain roads because that truck was just so full,” Slaton said. “It was kind of swaying back and forth.”Once the group arrived at the fire department, Slaton joined a group of volunteers who went into the mountains to take supplies to people who were stranded. She listened to their stories as they talked about what they’d endured. Floodwaters as high as 60 feet washed away their homes; they watched dead bodies float by.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=28fCME_0w2vUpig00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=28fCME_0w2vUpig00" width="1080" height="1440" ><figcaption>This photo shows supplies donated to people in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. (Contributed photo)</figcaption></figure>The stench of death from bodies permeates the mountain air, Slaton said, and bodies are trapped under debris and rubble. Thousands of people remain missing roughly two weeks after the storm swept through the area."People are having to live in areas where it smells. The scent of death is so bad that I don't even know how they're doing it,” Slaton said.While food and water have been taken to the region in large quantities, people there have lost clothing they’ll need for the coming winter months, Slaton said. Many will have only a tent to sleep in as they brave the frigid mountain temperatures. Some don’t even have a tent, Slaton said.Her next goal is to gather coats and jackets and other winter gear that’ll be taken to North Carolina soon.Anyone who would like to donate new or like-new winter gear can call Slaton at (903) 475-2260.And the work is far from over. Trucks carrying supplies from East Texas will travel to North Carolina throughout October and November, Slaton said.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3yMKxp_0w2vUpig00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3yMKxp_0w2vUpig00" width="1638" height="1265" ><figcaption>Those interested in donating winter clothing and gear to people affected by Hurricane Helene can do so by calling Laren Slaton at (903) 475-2260.</figcaption></figure>She is planning to host a 3K marathon in Longview soon to raise funds for further relief work.“I just felt overwhelmed with the love and the outpouring that people were showing,” Slaton said. “I just couldn't believe how everybody came together and it just turned out the way it did.”</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

East Texans take supplies to N.C., plan more hurricane relief efforts

Laren Slaton felt helpless as she watched TikTok videos showing the devastation in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. But then she said she felt God put something on her heart: Get a box truck, load it with supplies and take it there. “I didn’t know how I was going to...