Western NC Water Well Fund (Solving the Helene Water Crisis)

We're Kendra Ferguson and Whitney (Ferguson) Collins, and our dad started Ferguson's Well & Pump over 46 years ago in Leicester, NC to provide the Western North Carolina (WNC) region with fresh, potable groundwater. Ferguson's, along with many other local well drilling companies, have drilled countless water wells all over WNC for decades. The well drilling community here has a deep history and understanding of the natural resources this area can provide, and we're ready, willing, and able to tap those resources for the benefit of our community that is hurting in unimaginable ways. Our family's business has been giving away free water from our own well all week (located at 2731 New Leicester Hwy) to anyone that brings a container by. We've filled up everything from a single water bottle to a water tanker for World Central Kitchen and every size in between but we know we can do more.

Several local well drilling companies have been coordinating in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Ferguson's Well and Pump has already drilled 2 wells at Trinity Baptist Church in Asheville this week, one of which has already cleared testing to be used for potable drinking water. Clyde Sawyers & Sons and Coomer's Well & Pump put in wells at Mission Hospital to chill their boilers. A 1st Choice Well Service drilled a well today at Buncombe County Emergency Services where NC Search & Rescue is operating out of. We want to drill as many wells as we can to help as many people as we can. The problem is one well costs $15,000 to $25,000 on average and as much as we'd like to provide them for free, we have expenses for materials, fuel, equipment and employees to take care of. All of our employees are working overtime and selflessly sacrificing time with their own families to help our devastated communities.

We have local churches, community centers, funeral homes, fire departments, nursing homes, etc. asking us to drill wells for them but these places are already resource strapped with everything else they're providing to the community. They don't have the financial means to pay for the installation of a well themselves, so we're raising money to be able to continue this vital work for our community that needs it so badly. Hurricane Helene has severely damaged the public water systems in Asheville, NC and in a lot of other smaller mountain towns. Estimates for when public water will be restored in some of these areas are as long as 3-4 months. Groundwater wells need to be a part of the solution to get water to these folks. The water is already in the ground, we just need to bring it to the surface. Help us be a part of the solution to the acute water crisis that's currently unfolding in WNC!

Any money raised will go towards paying local well drilling companies to help as many WNC residents as possible. We will only use funds to pay for wells located at places that can have a high impact and that cannot cover the costs themselves. No funds will be used to drill wells at private residences.