A conversation over family dinner Sunday night sealed the deal for Heather Coleman.
She’d been following the news about Hurricane Helene’s path of devastation through the mountain ranges of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
“I told my husband, I don’t know why, but I was so drawn to it,” Coleman said. “I said, ‘We need to go help.’”
The couple had planned a kid-free weekend to mark their anniversary, but instead she turned their celebration into an aid mission.
“My husband’s a first responder. He knows people that have been in the area working,” Coleman said. “It’s worse than what we could have ever fathomed.”
She posted on Facebook: “God has put something on my heart, and I can’t get it off of my mind.”
Coleman explained that she and her husband would be heading to an area near Boone, North Carolina, on Friday to deliver “much needed supplies following the catastrophic hurricane damage to the area.”
Coleman set up collection areas at Dance’s Sporting Goods in Colonial Heights and behind Old Towne’s Alibi, a restaurant in Petersburg. She said a steady flow of donations have been coming in all week, and people hoping to support the effort have contacted her from as far away as Texas.
Marlee Dance, her lifelong friend, whose father owns the sporting goods store, has helped coordinate donations and pack up boxes.
“This idea has turned into something amazing,” Dance said. “We’ve started out with one trailer, and now we’re up to 12.”
On Friday, volunteers drove 12 trucks and trailers filled with water, equipment, clothes and food down to North Carolina.
She posted Wednesday night on her Facebook page: “The focus is on the region affected and we will go (within reason) where there is significant need.”
Despite the generosity of similar groups, the North Carolina Disaster Information Center is encouraging people to avoid traveling to its western counties for safety reasons. Instead, the center has asked people to donate to several aid organizations, including the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund and the American Red Cross.
For ways to give money or supplies to Helene relief efforts, visit VPM News' lists of organizations accepting donations in Central Virginia and in Western North Carolina (courtesy of Blue Ridge Public Radio).
