UncleWillie
Rarely serious.
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2010
- Location
- Vale
Since Thursday, we have shut down the business to help with relief efforts in WNC. And I want to emphasize the word effort. It is heartbreaking, knowing that no matter how many truck loads of supplies we drop off, no matter how many walk-ins trunks we fill, it is not enough. People need literally everything.
I wish we had a tally on how many tons of food, water, blankets, and clothing we have distrubuted. How many trees we have cut down. The organization we are working with is based in an old Pontiac dealership in Marion. It is full of things. But people need things we don't have. We can't give out houses, we have no cars to give.
Today, Heath and I drove nearly 300 miles today, taking supplies to people. We found the Cajun Navy (those guys are rock stars), and their story is the same. We can't give enough. I saw probably a hundred pick-up trucks loaded with supplies. I can honestly say that WNC is being rebuilt one pickup load at a time. The effort is huge, but it is a tiny drop in a very large bucket.
Yesterday, a little sweet old lady came to our HQ and just stood there. I asked what she needed, and she asked for a can of soup because she was hungry. Well, she left with enough soup and canned food to feed a small division of troops. We asked how she was cooking it, and she said she had a little propane camp stove but was almost out of propane, we gave here several small tanks for it.
Today, we went through Bakersville, NC. It is destroyed. The only building left operational was a farm supply store. Everything else is covered in mud.
We saw tents set up on empty house foudations. We saw huge houses, with tents beside them, because the houses were uninhabitable. And winter is coming.
The loss is staggering. If someone had money saved up, and hidden in their house, it is gone along with the house.
Roads are impassable. Crews are woking furiously to restore the ability of someone just to be able to get down the road. There are rail road tracks lying in rivers. There are places where hundreds of trees had to be cut to clear the road. It is unimaginable devastation.
I saw one house with a 100-foot oak tree uprooted and leaning over it. The house was fine, but I have no idea how the tree would be safely moved.
Many have no jobs because businesses are destroyed. They literally do not know where their next meal is coming from.
We returned to HQ to pick up another load, and they were inundated with people needing things. The team of volunteers was working to fill their needs.
My wife has worked tirelessly, caring for a 6 month old, and getting people the things they need.
We have requests for boots, winter clothing, sleeping bags, blankets, heaters, and generators, and we give them out as fast as we receive them. Today, we had several requests for laundry detergent, and we had none. As soon as some came in, it was gone.
We delivered supplies to other supply depots further up in the mountains just so they could give it to the needy people.
And I got the most heartbreaking request. We dropped supplies off at a church way up in the mountains, and after we unloaded, the sweet woman in charge asked if we had any Haloween candy. As a father of 6, I felt a sudden shame. We had none, and it never crossed my mine. No matter what your feeling on the day, children look forward to a day of fun, going door to door, asking for candy. This year, they can not. In some cases, there are not even houses to knock on.
So if you made it this far, I have a request. I would never ask for anything for myself. But consider giving to a reputable donation center. If you are one of the hundreds of people who bought a generator recently and are trying to return them, consider donating it to a family who will not have power for months. A family who needs to keep insulin cold. A family who has children who need food kept cold so they can cook it on a camp stove or an open fire.
We need propane heaters and propane. We need tents, we need sleeping bags and air mattresses. We need cleaning supplies. We need everything.
Find someone who is delivering supplies and buy them a tank of gas. I know that I have gone through a lot of fuel, and others have gone through more.
Amid all the devastation, we saw people helping people. Elderly people out clearing debris. Neighbors cooking over a campfire - laughing amid all the chaos.
As you sit in your nice warm house, with food, electricity, and a nice warm bed, think about helping someone who lost everything they owned.
And to all the volunteers and workers, THANK YOU. you are making a difference.
To all who have given, THANK YOU, it is going to help people.
And to all the people who lost everything. Hang on, the pickup trucks are coming.
I wish we had a tally on how many tons of food, water, blankets, and clothing we have distrubuted. How many trees we have cut down. The organization we are working with is based in an old Pontiac dealership in Marion. It is full of things. But people need things we don't have. We can't give out houses, we have no cars to give.
Today, Heath and I drove nearly 300 miles today, taking supplies to people. We found the Cajun Navy (those guys are rock stars), and their story is the same. We can't give enough. I saw probably a hundred pick-up trucks loaded with supplies. I can honestly say that WNC is being rebuilt one pickup load at a time. The effort is huge, but it is a tiny drop in a very large bucket.
Yesterday, a little sweet old lady came to our HQ and just stood there. I asked what she needed, and she asked for a can of soup because she was hungry. Well, she left with enough soup and canned food to feed a small division of troops. We asked how she was cooking it, and she said she had a little propane camp stove but was almost out of propane, we gave here several small tanks for it.
Today, we went through Bakersville, NC. It is destroyed. The only building left operational was a farm supply store. Everything else is covered in mud.
We saw tents set up on empty house foudations. We saw huge houses, with tents beside them, because the houses were uninhabitable. And winter is coming.
The loss is staggering. If someone had money saved up, and hidden in their house, it is gone along with the house.
Roads are impassable. Crews are woking furiously to restore the ability of someone just to be able to get down the road. There are rail road tracks lying in rivers. There are places where hundreds of trees had to be cut to clear the road. It is unimaginable devastation.
I saw one house with a 100-foot oak tree uprooted and leaning over it. The house was fine, but I have no idea how the tree would be safely moved.
Many have no jobs because businesses are destroyed. They literally do not know where their next meal is coming from.
We returned to HQ to pick up another load, and they were inundated with people needing things. The team of volunteers was working to fill their needs.
My wife has worked tirelessly, caring for a 6 month old, and getting people the things they need.
We have requests for boots, winter clothing, sleeping bags, blankets, heaters, and generators, and we give them out as fast as we receive them. Today, we had several requests for laundry detergent, and we had none. As soon as some came in, it was gone.
We delivered supplies to other supply depots further up in the mountains just so they could give it to the needy people.
And I got the most heartbreaking request. We dropped supplies off at a church way up in the mountains, and after we unloaded, the sweet woman in charge asked if we had any Haloween candy. As a father of 6, I felt a sudden shame. We had none, and it never crossed my mine. No matter what your feeling on the day, children look forward to a day of fun, going door to door, asking for candy. This year, they can not. In some cases, there are not even houses to knock on.
So if you made it this far, I have a request. I would never ask for anything for myself. But consider giving to a reputable donation center. If you are one of the hundreds of people who bought a generator recently and are trying to return them, consider donating it to a family who will not have power for months. A family who needs to keep insulin cold. A family who has children who need food kept cold so they can cook it on a camp stove or an open fire.
We need propane heaters and propane. We need tents, we need sleeping bags and air mattresses. We need cleaning supplies. We need everything.
Find someone who is delivering supplies and buy them a tank of gas. I know that I have gone through a lot of fuel, and others have gone through more.
Amid all the devastation, we saw people helping people. Elderly people out clearing debris. Neighbors cooking over a campfire - laughing amid all the chaos.
As you sit in your nice warm house, with food, electricity, and a nice warm bed, think about helping someone who lost everything they owned.
And to all the volunteers and workers, THANK YOU. you are making a difference.
To all who have given, THANK YOU, it is going to help people.
And to all the people who lost everything. Hang on, the pickup trucks are coming.
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