Disaster Relief

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, so many people from around the country feel helpless. There are entire towns that have just been washed away completely. Folks unable to find their families. People cut off from the world. Most of the roads in Western North Carolina are closed – or destroyed – and power is out through many places in the Southeastern parts of Turtle Island. The last we saw, there were an estimated 1500 power poles just down or gone. While in some places power is carried through buried cables, in the more remote areas in particular, power lines are still above ground. It takes an estimated 4 hours for a crew of four to replace 1 pole – so this is a substantial effort needed and that’s “just” for power and “just” in one area. Updates coming from the worst of the places affected have estimates of power being restored sometime in the next couple of weeks, boiling water advisories, and there’s at least one chemical fire that I know of in South Carolina. It’s a mess right now all over the place, with lots in need.

So how can we help?

Here are some ways to help. This is not an exhaustive list. Just a few places that are doing good work and trying to connect people and get them the services they need. If you aren’t sure about vetting a source, we’ll remind you that Charity Navigator is a decent place to start, unless you have direct experience with the charity itself. (Note that some Indigenous-led charities we’ve worked with are not on the list, and are absolutely valid and worthwhile charities nonetheless. So it’s not a perfect solution, but if a charity is on their list they’ve been pretty well vetted.)

World Central Kitchen – https://wck.org/ – this organization brings food to those who have none, and are working in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Operation Airdrop – https://www.operation-airdrop.com/hurricane-helene – they organize those with access to aircraft to bring in supplies when the roads are impassable – which includes many places that Helene has devastated.

Fleet of Angels – http://www.FleetOfAngels.org – this organization helps with emergency equine supplies, and is currently organizing temporary stabling and feed drops for horses and small farms affected by Helene.

7 Directions of Service – An Indigenous-led environmental action group located in the Mebane area on NC, 7 Directions of Service has put together a list of local places doing work to gather supplies and get them to our friends and family further west in more devastated areas.

Blue Ridge Public News has also published a list of ways they’ve vetted to help in Western North Carolina specifically. You can find that list here: https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2024-09-28/list-ways-to-donate-and-help-flood-victims-in-western-north-carolina-after-hurricane-helene