Triangle business owners organize donation drives for Western NC: ‘Civic duty’

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Business owners across the Triangle and Sandhills are rallying around their neighbors in western North Carolina by organizing donation drives.

Many were impacted by Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic storm. It’s left them without food, clothes, or homes. Times like this show the heart of the community.

“It just hit us. We’ve got trucks sitting around. We’ve got people. We’ve got to do something,” said Lee Gardener, owner of Lee’s 24-Hr Towing.

“You’ve got entire towns gone. People have nothing.”

Durhamites filled three semi-trucks with donations to get them on the road to the mountains as soon as possible. Gemini Janas dropped off items to the Durham Rescue Mission’s effort as she thought of the many college students affected.

“Gosh, those students that are there and the parents wanting to get to their kids definitely pulled on my heartstrings a lot,” she said.

At Durham’s food truck park, the Can Opener, several businesses have partnered with them to collect food and make a difference.

“Right now, it’s a mad dash of anything we can get our hands on that’s not perishable,” said Trevor Hayes, owner of Hometown Martial Arts Raleigh. “It’s a civic duty. If you live here and have a neighbor in trouble, you go help them. Plain and simple.”

Donations started coming in at the businesses early Monday morning. They expect to have a weekly pickup for the next month or two. They are even raffling off an incentive to one lucky donor.

“We’re going to give free coffee away for a full year 365 days,” said Charlie Ji, owner of the Can Opener.

RELATED | How to help those affected by Helene: volunteering, donations and other resources

Down in the sandhills at Elite Aircraft Services, relief efforts continue. Plans are underway to fly all donations they receive to Western Carolina. They can’t take water because of its weight.

“A private owner volunteered his aircraft to go,” said Marcie Walsh with Elite Aircraft Services. “There’s so many small towns that need help like Swannanoa, Bat Cave, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock. All those places need our help.”

This mission is personal for Walsh because she’s a 2011 graduate of Appalachian State University.

“A lot of the people affected are friends, colleagues and mentors. I have one friend that lost everything except for the clothes on her back,” she said.

Donations can be taken directly to Raleigh Executive Jetport on 700 Rod Sullivan Road in Sanford, North Carolina.

They will be allocated to non-profit organizations Operation Airdrop and Carolina Aviators Network (CAN). Drop-off hours will run from 8 am – 6 pm daily.

The Raleigh Executive Jetport is also hosting a “Pack-a-Plane “event on Saturday, Oct 5th, 10 am-3 pm.

People can bring the donations to Family Day, and load them on the airplane. They will be able to watch the planes take off to Western NC.

SEE ALSO | VIDEO: Scenes of Helene’s deadly wrath from western to central North Carolina