Western NC Hurricane Helene Recovery

Hello! My name is Angela Stokes. As a Louisiana native now living in Western South Carolina (Simpsonville), I would have never dreamed that I would be seeing the same damages here from a hurricane that I have seen on the Louisiana coast. Western North and South Carolina have seen catastrophic damages from Hurricane Helene. There are towns completely cut off from the rest of the world, like Asheville, NC, and other surrounding areas. There are towns that are completely gone, such as Chimney Rock and others near Lake Lure. There are currently over 100 who have lost their lives, but thousands are still missing. There is no power anywhere in the area, no cell phone service for most, no running water, etc.

About me: As I mentioned, I was born and raised in Louisiana and moved to SC only 7 years ago. I have always volunteered to help in situations like this and have done several of these fundraising events for flooding in Louisiana, Hurricane Laura, which wiped out Southwest Louisiana (which holds a special place in my heart). In 2020, South Carolina rallied together and we took over $10,000 worth of supplies to Southwest Louisiana to people who had lost everything. I always show my receipts to prove where the money is being spent and provide pictures along the way! I have no intention of keeping any of the money and will donate quite substantially myself, but I need your help!

I plan to make at least 250 (more would be amazing) personal care bags and have been in touch with a helicopter pilot in Greenville, SC, who is flying supplies up to Western NC. While I realize that western SC and the upstate were also hit hard by this storm and many of us are still without power, our close neighbors to the north have lost everything. I have worked distribution centers before and cried and prayed and hugged those people who are just hanging on by a thread and seeing the impact that we can have (TOGETHER) is just incredible.

Let's come together as a community and help out where we can! And Louisiana... North and South Carolina were there for you (and will be again if needed), but we need you now!