Western North Carolina Santa Project

"I was standing at the end of my street, watching the water rise to my neighbor’s front porch knowing he was inside sleeping. After seeing him run outside to his truck, I thought maybe he would be ok. Then I saw the water rise to his truck and trap him. He ran up the steep embankment from the flood with nothing but his CPAP machine as we ran the 4-wheeler winch cable out to him. Just as we pulled him through the water to us, we all watched in terror as his house floated up off its foundation and down the Cane River. I never thought of myself as a hero for saving him - that is just what neighbors do for each other around here."

-John, 38

This is one of hundreds of stories of courage and caring for thy neighbor that I have heard firsthand from the hollers of Western, NC.

My name is Michael Foley. I am a US Navy Hospital Corpsman Veteran from Buford, GA. I have been volunteering in Western, North Carolina since just after the flooding of Hurricane Helene decimated the area and left thousands without homes, safety, and so much more. As of today, December 4th, I have completed my fifth trip to the affected areas. My diverse team of veterans and everyday volunteers have taken part in Search & Rescue, Supply and Sustainment, Rebuilding, and most importantly morale and spirit lifting for the people of Bat Cave, Green Mountain, Pensacola, Burnsville, Bent Creek, Egypt-Ramseytown, and more. Initially, we were attached to a large helicopter rescue operation that allowed me to put eyes on the whole ground situation as we flew in and out of the Appalachian mountain range. This effectively allowed me to triage which areas were the most devastated and where I would need to drive out and help as flight operations ceased. That area is the Cane River Valley of Yancey County, NC.

As I flew into the mountains to help Americans in need on the ground, I kept asking myself: "If not us, who?"

One night while sitting by a campfire with a local family, I learned of the warrior spirit of the children of the valley. They are the ones lifting everyone's spirits through the transition into what is now the new normal. I was moved to create a way to sponsor Christmas for the children of Cane River Valley. A local mom helped me create an Amazon list for all of the children (linked below) that this GoFundMe will go towards. There are so many ways to give to these children that are not specifically on this list, and I look forward to using these funds to better the children's lives as their parents rebuild their lives from virtually nothing. 100% of the proceeds will be used to support the children during this long and difficult process. The funds will be controlled by myself and one mother who is a major helper in the desperate times they are all enduring.

If donating an item is preferred this is the Amazon list! My address should auto-populate when checking out.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3NTU5Q54IAN1E?ref_=wl_share&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1lHNVEU9Go3s3BGKL3Loymf0mleF0SZCqkpdu7x-UA9aWWzGXqtg3QYJg_aem_e5f3EvDG0PNHi-hFT1-Lzw

God Bless you and your giving spirit this holiday season, and God Bless North Carolina.

Below is an excerpt that a 28 year old mother who survived the storm in a bus with her husband and 2 year old daughter wrote to share with you all:

First of all, we are so thankful for your interest in supporting our little community in our particular pocket in this all of this destruction. It has been such a pleasure meeting Foley. His “boots on the ground,” relief efforts, and connections have been a vital resource to the people out here.

We are in the “Egypt/Ramseytown” part of Yancey County, one of the “hardest hit” areas. Truly, though, the entire Cane River Valley, or any river valley in our county or surrounding counties has been wiped clean. Even aside from the flooding, the damage incurred from dangerous mudslides and tornado-like winds is truly unbelievable. I’ve struggled to visit all of the other devastation sites… there are just so many, so many heart wrenching tales. Needless to say, We ALL appreciate your help.

Day 39 and the power has just returned prior to starting this letter. We are ecstatic. Routes are still destroyed, but we are fed, warm, and we will all help each other rebuild as needed!

The affected are patching the pieces together in varying degrees all around us, whether it be simply making up for bills piling up and the inability to work, access difficulty/landslides/driveway washouts, to full homes being wiped from history.

Hurricane Helene has been such a traumatic event, the kind that human beings usually don’t witness in a lifetime. With so many without power or access for so long, unable to even tell our children if they would ever see their friends again. We still have not processed the shock and grief of those early days.

But we are resilient, ESPECIALLY the children, and are adjusting to our new normal as a we continue to support needs that come up day to day.

I am endlessly grateful to have so many friends and families that are so strong and that have survived. We are daily reminded of how many are simply “lucky” to have climbed up out of the havoc as we traverse crumbling roads and machinery packed mountains. I would like to extend an extra Thank You for the gaming system you have sponsored for our neighbor’s son Sam. He has been without normal with his dad for so long and those games are his “language” - I believe even crucial to his thriving as they start afresh. They have a new spot in town to rent that we are going to help fix up and are starting to “unpack” and address further needs. Since beginning this, Foley delivered the XBOX to him, an act of kindness I am grateful to have witnessed. As they left, Sam and his father John just kept looking at each other and saying “so cool, right?!”

I am so surprised and my heart is full knowing there are people out there wanting to go above and beyond survival support and bring joy to the affected children this holiday season. All of this has certainly restored our faith in humanity. It has been a day to day, and these little ones deserve the best for being such troopers.It is certainly a disheartening year for the holiday spirit to all of whom face Helene’s unprecedented warpath every single day. The kids are one of the beautiful things in all of this. They all have made the best of each and every day and are a reminder to all of us on faith, what is actually important, and how to “have the best day ever,” no matter what.

I’d like to introduce our families a bit to you so that you know the lives impacted by your generous hearts.

We are a group of like-minded families interconnected through our children, river, and nearby hollers. Now more connected than ever, as I’m sure you can imagine. Christmas gifts will be distributed to a minimum of 8 families. The kids are a variety of ages, from soon-to-be born, 3 months old, 6 months old, 9 months old, 2-3T and up to 4-5T & even Sam! (whom is 14.) We have mostly girls and joke often about what must be in the spring water out here, but joke aside, we now have 2 little boys in the mix as well!

It feels strange to compile a wishlist and just ask somebody to assist with presents. But I have been assured it is encouraged and so I am putting this out there. I wanted to clarify some things via text so that items made more sense. I also wanted to add that some of the large ticket items are not expected at all, but we are going to try to save up to fund some of them ourselves regardless.

For some of them, this is why:

In terms of outdoor play equipment, I included those in our wishlist because the beautiful recreational sports complex (complete with an up to date playground and beautiful trail all of us use, some of us even every single day) as all of it is washed away. The park is gone … and it is the single outdoor recreational opportunity in our river community. And to be honest, the thing the children are the most sad about. We feel a strong need to replace and share this experience in our children’s childhoods to get through the expected years of rebuild. With this in mind, any winter specific play gear or attire is much appreciated.

The children within this neighborhood also lost our corner store, which most of us visited daily for social interaction, goodies, to support each other, and to buy some time day to day, thankful to be sharing something of the “old days” with our children in this day in age. We are all focused on play and hang opportunities for the littles, including creating the outdoor, as well as indoor play spaces.

We are a group of “back to the land” families, as they are calling it. Most of us moved here within a similar timeframe and started building from scratch within these mountains we felt were safe and were excited to call home. One family is years in on remodeling an old house (still unfinished) and my family in particular was in the middle of a new construction, of which is barely dried in. We are trying to move forward as best we can.

We are homesteading families-all who put a lot of importance on growing our own food, providing our children with ample outdoor activities & learning, and are all headed together into beginning to homeschool and being as present as possible with our little ones.

With that in mind, I tried to focus on a lot of learning materials/games, as well as interactive outdoor opportunities. Many of them are at the exact age where it is time to start learning how to read and write.

Amongst baby needs, there are a number of “fun”/toy items on the list I’ve included, some per specific children requests as at their age they are wanting to play as or “mirror” their parents careers or the things they’ve been embracing in day to day life out here (such as watching the heavy machinery connect us all once again, etc.)

The girls (all) will never turn down a princess or “pink dress,” so if that is something that ends up being purchased, I wanted to clarify sizes: We’ve got dress-up lovin’ girls ranging from 2T, 3T, 4T, & 5T.

Items that apply to multiple children, including some of the devices/toys, equipment equipment, clothing/base layers, etc. we would gladly accept multiple of (as multiple families/children are in need or want of these kinds of items.) Many also navigate multiple children households, where repeated items “keep the peace” amongst siblings. These items would be such a light in really all of our day to day, kid lives.

I’ve worked hard on this wishlist and have checked in with each family I am personally connected with on what their individual children want/or need in terms of comfortability and fun this winter and wholeheartedly believe this list is the dream list. I have added items directly in after each conversation with a family, and so the list might be a bit scattered due to this.

I know I’ve compiled quite a list (I’m a mom after all and I’ve ensured every child I personally know in the affected community has their dream item(s) on it.) We all have absolutely no expectations of fulfilling any of this, I cannot express that enough, but any wish to sponsor any item is greatly appreciated as we figure out how to “catch up” monetarily and learn what this new world looks like in returning to work & suddenly living more rurally than we could imagine.

I can assure you that there are PLENTY of young children in the surrounding areas and any repeat gifts or added ideas can and will be distributed to even more families.

One parent had a terrific idea that I would like to share. If there are any donors wishing to support children in an “unspecific” gift way and help restore our economy - We are lucky enough to have an amazing locally owned toy store that is downtown and back up and running! (MONKEY BUSINESS OF BURNSVILLE, NC). A fantastic way to support the community AND the children would be to buy gift cards for this establishment. We easily have the connections to distribute such gift cards to those families in need.

Another route of support that has been brought to my attention is a sponsorship program at a local dance studio. They have set up an application to sponsor currently enrolled students whom have been impacted by Hurricane Helene. This can be found on their website: https://www.appalachianperformingarts.com

I will continue to keep my ears open for any additional ways to support Appalachia and their children in it’s season of need.

Our appreciation of your interest is endless, and in a way I feel we will be sharing this Christmas “together,” as if in cahoots with each other on making miracles happen.

Thank you for disguising as Santa with us and remembering all of us here in WNC. I look forward to sharing our story moving forward & pictures of our young families starting afresh in a new world.