CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Many West Virginians are saying that they’re not sitting back and watching when their neighboring states are dealing with much devastation in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
In Charleston alone, many are coming together to lend a helping hand following the record-breaking storm, which swept through the southeastern United States last Friday, knocking out power to more than 1.4 million homes and businesses and killing hundreds.
Crews continue to look for victims in western North Carolina after trillions of gallons of flood waters came crashing down on them.
Downtown Charleston Association’s Kevin Madison said being not very far, many residents in the Mountain State have close ties to the region, particularly in one of the hardest-hit areas of Ashville, NC. He said to know what those in our neighboring region are going through is heartbreaking.
“We are seeing all of the pictures, the damage is terrible, and you know, a lot of us have personal connections, our brewer over at Bad Shepherd and Black Sheep, his brother lives in Ashville and they’re stranded on a hill,” Madison said.
Madison joined Kallie Cart, a co-owner and operator of three downtown Charleston restaurants and pubs on 580 Live Thursday as a newly-formed plan has come into the works to get more funds and supplies to the flood victims in North Carolina.
Cart said she has her very own personal connection with the western NC area and the devastation she is seeing there is hard to swallow.
“As Kevin was saying, you know, we can all relate to these images that we’re seeing in the heartbreak, and a lot of us have personal connections, my husband and I actually got married in Burnsville, which is one of the little tiny towns in western North Carolina that was just decimated, and the images are very difficult to see,” Cart said.
Madison said the downtown-wide business effort began after Fife Street Brewing posted to social media that they will be donating 15% of their proceeds this Saturday to organizations helping with NC storm restoration efforts. Madison reached out to the brewing company asking if more businesses could get involved, and the offer was whole-heartedly welcomed.
Now the list has expanded to Black Sheep Burrito, Ichiban, DT Prime, Adelphia Sports Bar, Hale House and with others expected to join on.
Madison said helping out our neighbors in times of need is something West Virginians always seem to spring into action and do.
“I’ve lived in West Virginia for 13 years and when people need help, we help our neighbors, you know, like when we had those devastating floods several years ago people were here to help us, so it’s our time now,” he said.
All of those restaurant locations will now be donating 15% of their proceeds to various organizations all day Saturday.
Madison said one of the non-profit organizations is known as Mercy Chefs out of Portsmith, Virginia. They set up mobile kitchens that provide restaurant-quality meals for up to 20,000 people a day, from flood victims, first responders, and volunteers.
Another organization is called Brother Wolf Animal Rescue that’s actually out of Asheville. Madison said the animal shelter lost 100% of its physical assets leaving them with nothing. Fortunately, however, he said all of the animals at the shelter were evacuated to safety prior to the storm, but other animals, unfortunately have been lost in the flood waters.
“They’re trying to do random updates as they can, but again there’s limited internet and Wi-Fi,” Madison said. “I mean, you see the pictures, people had to leave some of their animals behind, and you know the flood waters were up to the middle of their bodies and it’s just heartbreaking.”
Cart said while hurricanes have never posed as much of a threat here in the mountains of West Virginia, flooding has been one disaster we’ve always had to cope with, which makes this disaster in North Carolina and other surrounding states right now something we can really help with.
“We know this is going to be a long process to get people off the ground and to get started, it’s such a daunting task and I think you look at it and you feel a little bit hopeless, but I think everyone just wants to help in some way,” said Cart.
In addition to collecting proceeds, Black Sheep Burrito will also be gathering up supplies at their restaurant to send out to victims.
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Central will also be collecting supplies at its locations to fill up a semi truck to send.
Some of the supplies you can donate to these businesses include bottled water, non-perishable items, and cleaning supplies.
Madison and Cart encourage more businesses who want to get involved and help out to feel free to do so.