Former Asheville resident collecting supplies for N.C. flood victims

At the corner of Rutland Rd. and Golden Bear Gateway, a sign in the ground says 'Asheville Donations'.

Lauren Connell is using the garage to hold donated items that are being accepted.

Saturday, these supplies will be loaded in the moving truck and taken to local charity organization BeLoved Asheville.

"Just seeing all of the houses and the photos and the things completely wiped off the map it overwhelmed me with a need to do something," said Connell. "It turned out to be a lot worse than what anyone could have imagined."

The idea started because Lauren recently moved from Asheville back to Nashville, weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the West North Carolina community she grew to love.

BeLoved Asheville accepting these supplies on a large scale and distributing them to the communities affected by Helene.

If you would like to donate supplies to the disaster relief efforts, you can. BeLoved listed supplies such as reusable bags, walkie-talkies, flashlights, cook stoves, food, charging blocks, hygiene products, water and other lifesaving supplies.

Lauren hopes to fill the truck with supplies Friday night at 615 Rutland Rd you are welcome to come before 10 p.m.

BeLoved Asheville is dispersing these donated supplies across dozens of areas affected.

Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at (Kim.Rafferty@newschannel5.com).

Rebecca: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/a2/d9/fb69982545c59e9836fbe80fe431/rebecca-recommends.png

Carrie: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/2e/72/be0f23854c54a228c9d6138c9847/carrie-recommends-header.png

Ben: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/df/c4/19fa7c504480938f39a431e3b276/ben-recommends-header.png

Amy: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/b9/b6/1408516a4a91b97639b178fc1ba9/amy-recommends-header.png

Rhori: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/5b/25/a224d13d47739165c92b94e643db/rhori-recommends-header.png

Lelan: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/af/54/833bf879454097a398bd44f723de/lelan-recommends.png

There are a lot of great schools in our area. Congratulations to four schools in the mid-state that were awarded National Blue Ribbons for Academic Execellence. The were among six in Tennessee to receive that honor. They were among 356 schools across the United States to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education!

-Lelan Statom