BY DEBBIE PAGE
The rain had barely stopped last Saturday when Troutman Ruritan Club member Nick Jaroszynski asked members on the club’s group chat if they were interested in doing something to help folks in Western North Carolina.
“There must be something we can do,” he said. “They will need help, food, water.”
Club Treasurer Debbie Altomare and Jaroszynski quickly began marshaling resources, making contacts in the mountains, and gathering volunteers.
Jaroszynski got permission to set up a drop-off location behind the Troutman Fire Department, spurred to act even more quickly after meeting a family at a Troutman coffee shop who had lost five family members in the mountain flooding.
Club members quickly agreed to pitch in and the donation site was set up that afternoon, publicized on social media and on homemade signs dotting local street corners.
Secretary April Hudson commented, “I love how thoughtful and willing to help our club is. I’m surrounded by fantastic people!!”
Club member Jackie Rollag went to Avery County last Saturday to check on her aunt and uncle. “The news said ‘Don’t go,’ the roads showed closed, social media said helicopter access only. They lost power, they were flooded, they were trapped as their road was washed out for miles.”
“When they lost communication, I couldn’t sit on standby. We loaded two trucks, a quad, fuel, a chainsaw, and six of us went out on a mission.”
The trip was rough, but Rollag found her aunt and uncle at Banner Elk Town Hall. They had hiked and hitchhiked to the safety of the building.
“It was a journey of pure devastation. Surprising the roads were quiet, no help or authority other than citizens with tractors or chainsaws.”
“We went to town hall – the only internet available. The community was coming together to get ice and water. No cell service for any carrier. Everything is shut down — no gas, no food, no stores.”
Club member Sam Scott had a friend in Bat Cave report that the small community was devastated.
“They have evacuated most people, but some older locals refuse to leave. I am meeting up with my friend who will hike the two miles to take in supplies to the locals,” Scott said.
She also took donated money from herself and friends, a total of $3,000 in 18 hours, to help people in crisis at the local Ingles grocery because many lacked cash and were desperate to feed their families. The ATMS were down, and the store could not take credit cards without internet service.
All weekend, Troutman residents poured in with donated goods, inspiring the group to continue the effort from noon to 6 p.m. every day through Saturday. Three trailers and trucks, packed full, went out on Sunday.
At first, donations were taken to the Statesville Airport for the airlift effort, but by Monday club members were directly driving trucks and trailers of full donations from generous community donors through barely cleared roads to small, hard hit communities in Rutherford, Ashe, Alleghany, and other mountain counties.
The list of needs continued to grow as people gratefully received the donated supplies and communicated new needs such as medical supplies, chain saw and tractor oil, and tools as clean-up efforts began.
Generous donors also began dropping by checks, sending club members shopping for mounds of diapers and formula, nonperishable food, and other supplies. Community members and businesses also dropped by donations of boxes and tape to keep the effort going.
Others came to donate and stayed to collect, sort, box, and pack. The donations came so quickly at times that volunteers struggled to keep up.
Loaded trucks and trailers have left each day this week, driven directly to community donation centers by club members and trusted volunteers.
Hope Floats, an organization in Long Island, heard about the club’s efforts on social media and created an Amazon list for donors to ship supplies directly to the Troutman Ruritan effort. Hope Floats is also filling a tractor-trailer in Long Island and sending it to the Hendersonville area.
A local businessman donated a half trailer of bread and baked goods, filled up the rest of the trailer with donations, and drove it himself to small communities in Ashe County on Tuesday.
Pleas to friends resulted in porch loads of Amazon boxes filled with supplies to members homes. A food bank in Iowa contacted the club on Thursday to organize logistics for sending 200 cans of baby formula.
Over a dozen trucks and trailers have been shipped in the six days of the Ruritan effort, and efforts will continue. Follow the club’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/troutmanruritan) for details of donor site and times next week.
SOUTH IREDELL COLLECTION
South Iredell High School is also supporting the relief drive by collecting donations at games for a few weeks and sending them to Troutman Ruritan for distribution. If the donation site is closed, community members can drop donations to the trailer with ‘Troutman Ruritan Club’ signage at the school.
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