Mentone and Valley Head Respond Quickly to Help Hurricane Victims

Both Mentone and Valley Head sprang into action to help get aid as quickly as possible to North Carolina residents after Hurricane Helene left devastation in its wake in late September. The two towns put out the call for supplies, and the response was swift.

Pallets of water and propane heaters and tanks are loaded at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church before heading to hurricane victims in North Carolina.

Coordinated by St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, the Mentone request for aid was placed on several Facebook pages, and within hours, donations poured in by the carload — some from other towns around the Southeast. Church members packed donations and readied them for transport. A kind volunteer made three trips from Mentone to North Carolina with his truck and trailer to deliver the items to a local church for distribution. Donations included camp stoves, cleaning supplies, propane heaters and propane bottles, toiletries, diapers, jackets, blankets, and more. One storm victim called to say the camp stove she received allowed the family to enjoy their first hot meal in a week.

Holly LaRock Owen, Christy Miller, Mary Jo
Crabtree, Valley Head Assistant Fire Chief
Michael Chambers, and Valley Head Fire Chief Dustin Burt working to get aid to hurricane victims. (Photo courtesy of Fritz Structural Steel)

The Town of Valley Head partnered with Fritz Structural Steel and Harco Metal Products to collect supplies for storm victims, some of whom lost everything, including loved ones. Valley Head’s volunteer firemen and employees of Fritz and Harco sorted and packed the supplies. A 30-foot trailer full of much-needed items was delivered on October 11 to the Boone, North Carolina, fire department by Fire Chief Dustin Burt and Assistant Chief Michael Chambers. Chief Burt said the North Carolina community was overwhelmed when they opened the trailer to reveal its contents.

The generosity of donors and volunteers
in our communities is immeasurable.