Helene Relief
Your responsiveness and generosity have been overwhelming. It's quite difficult to put into words how thankful we are to be part of this incredible running community. If you knew the depth of our emotions you would see the true response to the love that you're showing to our mountain communities. We're still seeing a great need, but thankfully triage centers are well stocked. There are a lot of people with flooded homes, no electricity, no heat, no clothes, etc... and the triage centers continue to distribute all sorts of essential supplies. Thankfully, some of the bigger organizations, such as Samaritans Purse, are getting rolling. But I know that much of the recovery will continue to depend upon the grassroots effort. At this time, I think it's best to pull back and take a breath. I want to ensure that our fund-raising efforts are fruitful and impactful. Going forward, as a group, we may find that our greatest impact will be as these communities start to rebuild. However, I will continue to stay in touch with the communities during this critical time. Thank you for your overwhelming generosity that you've shown in these last 5-6 days, and all that you will do in the future...you are greatly appreciated.
IMMEDIATE NEEDS
Pensacola: EZ30...Posted Thursday, Oct 15. MANUAL LABOR NEEDED for the weekend of Oct 19-20! Going into Pensacola Saturday morning and working Saturday and Sunday. Please do not go on your own...this needs to be a coordinated effort.
Report from Oct 12-13: We had a total of 17 BRR runners, friends and family (and 2 new friends from Louisiana) who were part of our crew. In addition, at times as our energy was fading and our backs were getting tired, other volunteers showed up with perfect timing and new energy. We split into crews working 2 primary areas: 1) the chain saw crew worked with others and some local residents who had small track hoes...they were cutting 10, 15 and 20 logs for firewood from the mangled piles of uprooted trees. 2) our other crew tackled the mud-filled, water-damaged Laurel Branch Baptist Church (EZ30) and much progress was made in removing mud, removing the church pews, emptying debris, opening walls, removing insulation, etc... We had 8-9 tents pitched in the debris filled field behind the Church. As I reflect on the weekend, I was so impressed by the endurance of our crew, their willingness to do whatever was needed and did it all with a gracious heart to serve. I've been blessed to work with and to get to know this handful of wonderful people. Thank you.
Pensacola is still in need of help and will be for a long time: manual labor, to include chainsaw work, log splitting for firewood, cleaning out the church(es), helping people with clean-up at their homes, etc... We're checking on work needs for the weekend of Oct 19-20. I don't know how many people would be ideal, but possibly another crew of 12-18 who are ready for some manual labor and who will do whatever is needed. We'll need to bring tools, but don't know if all tools will be used: workboots, muck boots, gloves, safety glasses, hearing protectors, chaps, chainsaws, gasoline, bar oil, 2-cyle oil, maul for log splitting, crowbars (3 ft and 2 ft), flat bars, hammers, sledge hammer, cordless drivers with bits (for removing any sort of screw), nail pullers, sharp knives to cut carpet, sawzall (cordless and/or corded...they may have a generator), wheel barrow, misc tools, N95 mask (with respirator preferred (like 3M 8511). Personal items needed will include tents, sleeping bags, coolers with food, water...and anything else you need to survive. Expect temps to be low 30's at night and 40-60 during the day. Please let me know if you have some folks who want to work...our plan will go into Pensacola early Saturday morning and work through Sunday. Roads have been greatly improved in one week, but road conditions remain difficult and a 4 wheel drive vehicle (AWD minimum) is recommended. If interested, please email me so we can get a head count and get organized. ( info@blueridgerelay.com ) There will be many more opportunities to serve. Thank you.
Green Valley Community Park: EZ 10
Work day at the Lower Access (down by the river) this Saturday, Oct. 19, 10:00 am - ?
Green Valley Park has supported all of Blue Ridge Relay's 20 years and New River Marathon's 14 years with Park access and a tremendous outpouring of volunteer support. Now is a great time to give back. The river access and kayak launch of the Park has been hit hard and is full of debris. Much help is needed to clean this area of the Park. After communicating with members of the board, with enough volunteer effort, they are hopeful that this could be a one day project. Certainly, every volunteer is welcome, but this could be a great opportunity to serve for people who have less distance to travel and want to work outside. Some chainsaw work will be done, but the Park will be selective with who is permitted to run a saw.
Worksite address is 3746 Big Hill Rd., Todd, NC 28684, general location see https://greenvalleypark.org/ .
Work gloves, work shoes / boots, hats, sunscreen, water, shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows are suggested. Some water / snacks will be on site, but please bring your own water/drinks, lunch and food.
Linville Central Rescue Squad: EZ 15-20
Let's help win a Land Rover for the Rescue Squad. PLEASE KEEP VOTING THROUGH OCT 17!
CAST YOUR VOTE NOW! Here's the LINK to vote. Here's the LINK to their Facebook post.
Linville Central Rescue Squad (and their Mountain Rescue Team) has been rolling non-stop since Helene hit. Avery County has been hit hard by Helene. The support for BRR in Avery County from property owners who host the exchange zone sites and the community groups that staff the EZ have been rolling out the red carpet at BRR for 20 years. The Linville Central Rescue Squad is ready to roll when needed during BRR and their team works the night shift (11:00pm - 10:00am) to cover BRR's second sweep shift from Grandfather Mountain to Burnsville. Please vote for Linville Central Rescue Squad daily and please share this link with family and friends and community. A little time each day can have a huge impact on the Avery County community in the future.
Run For Relief: Aid Blue Ridge Relay Communities: ($10,225 has been raised...$25,000 goal)
2024 was BRR #1 for Neal Harrington (Charlotte, NC). Neal was so impacted by his personal challenge at BRR and by the kindness and generosity of the BRR communities that he created this challenge and gofundme to raise funds for the BRR communities devastated by Helene. Follow Neal's progress on his Facebook page.
BRR Relief Fund: October 8, 2024
Over the last 10 days, the mountain communities have experienced a tremendous response of supplies, volunteerism and contributions. With a goal to be most impactful with the precious resources that we have, we are working on a Blue Ridge Endurance Helene Relief website page, that we'll link to from BRR, NRM and TRR. The focus will be on the specific needs of the communities that serve BRR and NRM. Runners/teams will be able to donate directly to the community group of their choice for projects related to Helene recovery and rebuilding. Some of these groups/organizations may have insurance, access to grants, state and/or federal funding, etc... We don't want to supersede these funds, but instead come along side the groups when that funding is not available or to assist after the available funding has been depleted. It will take a bit for us to set this up and for the communities identify their specific needs. Please be patient with us the rebuilding will take months and longer. Our hope is that this will address the re-building efforts of the BRR and NRM communities and will be an impactful expression of our gratitude for their support, hospitality and love that they give to us every year.
This is Izzy, Student of Hardin Park Elementary: EZ13 staff
$2,000 Goal Has Been Met! Awesome...thank you so much! Please stay tuned...more to come.
The teachers of Hardin Park Elementary who staffed EZ13 shared that several students lost their homes...literally nothing to go home to. One of the students, Izzy, thankfully didn't lose her home, but lost everything in her home...clothes, dolls, personal items, everything...and we are "adopting" her and her grandparents. Thankfully, the first floor of their home was gutted shortly after the flood and they believe that it can be restored. I asked her teacher for a $ goal and she shared "I like to dream big...$2,000...because this family lost everything." So, our goal is to raise $2,000 total in gift cards from Walmart, Target, Lowes Hardware and Harris Teeter. If you'd like to help Izzy and her grandparents, please email me ( info@bluerdgerelay.com ) and we'll lock you in. Once the family can catch their breathe, they will have tremendous needs when they go to rebuild their home. Here's a video link to Izzy's grandparents interview on Fox: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6362771517112
Work Boots for Tim (Thank you for your immediate responses...Tim received his new workboots last week and Tim had an outpouring of volunteer help from Samaritan's Purse to clean out his flood damaged home.)
Downtown Fleetwood, the home community for Blue Ridge Endurance, has been largely quiet. The church has been gutted, but it's been quiet around the 8-9 homes. When I was coming through last night, I noticed some clean-up debris piles on the side of the road fpr the first time. I took a walk today and talked to the few folks that were contemplating their homes and were doing some yard clean up. I asked how things were and what we could do to help with yard clean-up, home clean-up, supplies, etc... Because of the flood damage, they believe the county is going to condemn their homes. They shared that they're just moving in a fog. When I asked how I could help, they said that they're fine and just waiting on the county. And then they asked me "can we help you with anything?" As we finished our conversation, I offered assistance once again...food, water, clothing... Tim looked down at his feet, water soaked work boots, and asked "Can you help me get a new pair of work boots?" Would anyone want to love on Tim and ship a size 10-1/2 pair of workboots? Please email me ( info@blueridgerelay.com ) if you would to do this. You can ship the boots to Blue Ridge Endurance, 2385 Big Flatts Church Rd, Fleetwood, NC 28626. Thank you.
General Update:
With all this progress, there is still a lot of need, many hurting people, many damaged and lost homes, many small communities that are still being reached and a long road to recovery. I'm only seeing a part of the impact from Helene and it's tremendous. As the news cycle shifts and less attention is given to western NC, please remember that it will take many more weeks, months and year(s) for this recovery. Many rebuilding needs are still be identified and we are reaching out to every EZ and community group in these small mountain communities that support BRR and want to help them during this approaching season of rebuilding.
Giving
There are probably 100 ways to give financially and the need will remain for a while. Below are only a few suggestions. In the coming days, weeks and months, we'll start updating the BRR website Donate page with specific needs from the EZ and community groups, so donations can be made directly to those organizations.
Samaritan's Purse: SP is based in Boone and has had an immediate response to the needs in its hometown community and region. SP is rolling out 500-1000 volunteers each day (and maybe more). This mass volunteer effort will continue indefinitely. My understanding is that donations to SP's Helene Relief efforts will be spread wherever the need is. But the needs are great across Western NC and throughout the Southeast. SP is doing tremendous work.
LONGER TERM NEEDS
We'll keep you posted as we make updates to the BRR Donate page, which will more detailed information for longer term needs of the exchange zones, community groups and local communities. Thank you!
