Trio set out to North Carolina, donations in tow
A collection was held at St. Paul Lutheran in Hilton to benefit people impacted by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. (WHEC photo)
HILTON, N.Y. – It’s been nearly two weeks since Hurricane Helene plowed across the southeast, hitting many smaller communities in the Carolinas.
It especially impacted the Asheville area in North Carolina. Sunday night, Julie Liotta and two others began the 12-hour drive there, where they’ll be dropping off supplies such as food, water, and most importantly, camping supplies like tents, sleeping bags, and camp stoves. They will be dropping them off at the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry. Liotta says the organization assists a large number of homeless people who have to survive through the cold Carolina nights, which are dropping in to the 30s in the mountains.
They started the collection on Friday at St. Paul Lutheran in Hilton.
“I mean, it really warms my heart to see our community to be in this together and, you know, pulling out all the stops,” Liotta said. “Last minute, we only had 48 hours’ worth of notice about collecting the donations. And we had so many people show up and so many people sharing their stories of loved ones in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina that have been affected by inclement weather, like what Asheville just experienced, and just being able to deliver a piece of hope and, you know, love, unconditional love to these people that are suffering and really have nothing tangible at this point in time.”
The group was able to fill an 18-foot moving truck. If you missed this collection, Liotta plans to have another before Christmas.