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From Raphine to Natural Bridge to Buena Vista, folks across the Rockbridge area have been showing up to help storm victims. A local fire department, churches, schools, government organizations and civilian groups have been working hard over the past week or so on efforts to gather and provide relief for communities affected by flooding in the wake of Hurricane Helene – efforts that will be ongoing.
In Raphine
The Raphine Volunteer Fire Department has been gathering supplies to be donated since last Monday. As one of the first organizations in the area to begin relief efforts, it has become a central hub through which many donation drives have been carried out, including drives made by various local schools and sports teams.
By last Wednesday, according to its Facebook page, department volunteers had packed at least 154 individual buckets of supplies, and by Thursday, their first pickup truck of supplies had arrived safely in Burnsville, North Carolina. On Friday, they sent another U-Haul truck full of supplies to Swannanoa. More loads went to Leicester, N.C., on Sunday morning.
They have also reached out to and partnered with the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office, sending seven truck loads there, with supplies to be split between Southwest Virginia and Statesville, N.C.
Raphine’s success at coordinating donation, deliveries and relief efforts merely comes down to the fact that they are good people who got started early, and that they have connections with people in affected areas, according to Chelsea Brooks.
Brooks is a Raphine volunteer who has been working nonstop to help coordinate their relief efforts. She said that she didn’t know the Raphine Volunteer Fire Department would become such an important part of Rockbridge County’s charitable actions, but that she and her fellow volunteers are committed to continuing to help as much as is needed.
“Rockbridge County High School brought us stuff, Parry McCluer High School brought us stuff,” Brooks said. “They did the collecting and we just divvied it out.
“We had to take a step back this week, because we’ve been overwhelmed. I, or someone else, will still go by the firehouse several times a day and put stuff away.”
While they are slowing down activity for a few days to catch a much-needed break, Brooks said they will be back at it soon. “We don’t have a truck this week, but we will next week. As long as it’s still coming in, we’re taking it!”
Raphine Volunteer Fire Department’s continuing efforts can be tracked on its Facebook page.
Fincastle Baptist
Fincastle Baptist Church, which operates out of its headquarters in Fincastle but maintains campuses in Covington as well as Lexington, has been successfully filling trucks with supplies and sending them to areas affected by the hurricane and flooding.
In a conversation with The News-Gazette, Pastor Eric Evje of the Rockbridge campus described their relief efforts. Last Tuesday, they filled a U-Haul truck with over 500 cases of water and sent it down to Rutherford County, N.C., and then they sent two semi-trucks full of supplies down, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday.
The group has collected and sent water, paper products (towels, plates, toilet paper), diapers, wipes, feminine products, peanut butter, nonperishable food items, cat food, dog food, blankets, and socks.
The Rockbridge Campus of Fincastle Baptist had first set up a trailer to accept local donations at the Lexington Walmart parking lot last Wednesday, next to a representative of the Raphine Volunteer Fire Department.
But because Walmart has “a formal process organizations need to go through to solicit/collect donations in our store parking lot,” according to a Walmart spokesperson, they were asked to leave.
“Walmart works with trusted third parties to verify the local organizations using Spark Good programs to engage their supporters and fundraise so our customers and associates can trust that the organizations they are supporting at Walmart stores or on Walmart. com are in good standing,” said the spokesperson.
Evje acknowledges that corporations abide by processes. “It takes a couple of days to get approval for these things,” he said, “which we realize, but then at the same time, nobody schedules natural disasters. Those things happen.
“I called Kasey Potter from Pure Eats, and said, ‘Hey Kasey, you’re a longtime resident of Rockbridge County, do you have anywhere we could go?’” he continued. “So she made the phone call down to Food Lion and spoke with their store manager, and they [said] yeah, come on down, you can pass out flyers in the store or outside the store. It’s a good cause, and it’s good for the store as well. We’re happy that Food Lion gave us a place where we could set up, and we did equally as good there as we did at Walmart.”
Cade Harrill, the Rockbridge student director for the Fincastle church, is from Rutherford County, and was there all week last week, coordinating the distribution of donated items. “You hear all these things on the news, but to have somebody’s eyes [there], and to take footage on the ground, that’s a totally different thing,” said Evje.
The church is hosting disaster relief training on Oct. 12 at the Fincastle campus. Evje said it will “allow people to receive certifications that will permit them to be down there and help with things like tree removal, trash removal,” since local authorities will likely require people to be certified to help with big jobs.
Local Schools
Mountain View Elementary’s Student Council Association collected food, water, paper supplies and cleaning supplies, last week, and collaborated with the Raphine Volunteer Fire Department to deliver them to North Carolina last Friday. - Waddell Elementary School teacher Janice Black has been leading that school’s efforts to gather donations, along with Principal Kimberly Troise. They have started a spare change drive to support the citizens of Boone, N.C., because her daughter, Brinsley Leadbetter, attends Appalachian State University there.
Leadbetter is the president of her school’s Hunger and Health Coalition, which invests in local communities and makes sure people are not just fed, but provided with medications and even supplies for pets.
Waddell’s spare change drive will be going on through Friday, Oct. 11. If desired, people can donate directly to the organization at www.hungerhealthcoalition.com. - Amanda Grimm, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Rockbridge County High School, was approached by student Liam Finn about finding a way to help people affected by the hurricane.
“We decided with the permission of our school administration to hold a supply drive in order to gather items that the victims needed,” Grimm told The News-Gazette.
“So, my Teachers for Tomorrow class helped create fliers to hang around school asking the student body and faculty for donations. We also found out that the local Raphine Fire Department was delivering items to those affected. So, we partnered with them and took our donations to them to distribute.”
Grimm said they were able to collect “several van loads” of items, and that the high school plans to continue to accept items for the next few weeks. - Central Elementary participated in a flood relief supply drive alongside a coalition of businesses.
“Parkway Brewing Company and other businesses in Roanoke were joining together to send supplies to Western North Carolina, Southwest Virginia and Eastern Tennessee,” Central Elementary Principal Robin Parker told The News-Gazette. “The collection time was from Sept. 30through Oct. 7. We sent out the information to the Central Elementary families and Maury River Middle school participated as well.”
Relief For Farmers
Rockbridge farmers, meanwhile, are mobilizing to assist farmers impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Gwen Gosney, Matthew Engleman, Fred Huger, and others from the Rockbridge agriculture community have been assembling and delivering hay, fence materials, and other farm supplies to northeast Tennessee to address immediate needs for flood-impacted farms in that region.
Asked where interested folks could drop off donations, Huger said, “We have several places, we’ve got a trailer down at Dottie’s Market in Fairfield, and Mint Springs Equipment in Mint Springs is accepting donations, and then here at our farm in Fairfield, 85 Marmac Lane in Fairfield.”
Huger said the people they have spoken to have expressed a need for blankets and jackets and warm clothes. Due to donations, food and water is more readily available, but with the weather turning colder, people are feeling a greater need to keep warm.
For questions about how, where, and when donations can be dropped off, Huger can be reached at (540) 460-4030, and Engleman can be reached at (540) 570-3885.
Huger’s wife Christine is involved in a group called Appalachian Homes, Hearts & Hope. The group is “working to provide temporary emergency housing and supplies to families displaced by the storms in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia,” according to its mission statement.
Its plan is to acquire and stock campers to be used as temporary homes for displaced families. The organization can be reached through Fred Huger via the phone number above, or by emailing AppalachianHope4U@ gmail.com.
Many counties in Southwest Virginia have received significant damage as well because of Helene. Grayson, Smyth, and Washington counties in Virginia have all experienced catastrophic damage, Grayson especially.
Extension agents in Southwest Virginia are working to assess farmer needs and coordinate the distribution of agriculture-specific donations. All those interested in donating can fill out a form at https://tinyurl.com/HELPSWVAFARMERS. Entries made on this form are being managed and overseen by agriculture Extension agents in Southwest Virginia and Virginia Tech. These Extension agents are coordinating with North Carolina and Tennessee Extension agents just across the border as well. People with questions or who cannot access the online donation form may feel free to contact Tom Stanley through the Rockbridge Extension Office, or by e-mail to [email protected].
Sarah Reynolds and Chad Bouchard Two local citizens, Sarah Reynolds and Chad Bouchard, have been gathering donated materials dropped off at a few different locations, and they will be headed to Marion in Southwest Virginia this Saturday. They said that water is still a great item to donate, as large areas of Southwest Virginia are under a “boil water notice” until at least this Sunday.
Citizens are encouraged to bring items to the old Natural Bridge High School gym, and drop them off just inside the doors, on Thursday, Oct. 10, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. During daytime hours, people can bring donations to Glasgow Town Hall, or to Buchanan Bank of the James, Monday through Friday.
Reynolds and Bouchard say their greatest needs are water, pop-top canned food, and hygiene products. Hay, grain, dog and cat food, and small animal food are needed as well. Monetary donations are also welcome; Sarah Reynolds will be taking the monetary donations on Friday to buy what is needed after donations are turned in.
For questions, or for pick-up and additional drop-off times, people can call Sarah Reynolds at (540) 461-1116, or Chad Bouchard at (540) 319-0966.
White’s Truck Stop Classic Truck Show The LargeCarMag Southern Classic Truck Show will be at White’s Truck Stop this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12. Bill Warner and Son Towing will have a 53-foot trailer there to collect donations to deliver to disaster relief to help North Carolina flood victims.
Virginia Cattlemen’s
Virginia Cattlemen’s Foundation is accepting and managing cash donations specifically to assist farms and farmer’s impacted by Helene.
The Foundation is working with county-level cattle producer associations to meet needs quickly and appropriately. More information can be found at vacattlemen.org.
Farm Credit
Farm Credit of the Virginias announced last week that its branch offices will serve as collection sites for supplies to support families impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Anyone interested in donating items can bring their donations to the Lexington branch office at 152 Maury River Road through this Friday, Oct. 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The office phone number is (540) 463-5255. Please note, cash or monetary donations cannot be accepted.
MidMountain
Beginning last Thursday, Mid-Mountain, an arts collective and nonprofit in Rockbridge County, began collecting physical donations for Appalachian regional climate disaster relief.
The collective will also be taking donations at its inaugural MidMountain Fest on Saturday at 338 Arnolds Valley Road, Natural Bridge Station.
Those citizens The News-Gazette spoke to for this article all expressed their amazement at the effectiveness of relief efforts in the Rockbridge area.
“They’re doing great work,” said Fred Huger, one of the leaders of the farm relief effort. “Everybody in our community is doing great work. I’ve never been involved in anything like this before, and it’s amazed me how much the community has stepped up and offered to go and help.”
“In a time where it’s easy to be negative, with the political environment, it’s good to remind people, ‘Hey, let’s focus on the positive,’” said Pastor Eric Evje of Fincastle Baptist. “Even with a natural disaster, people are rising to the occasion and doing really great things.”
