Firefighters and law enforcement officers aren’t the only people in Alamance County who have felt the urge to do something to help out the hurricane victims in the western part of the state.
Since travel to storm-stricken areas is restricted, most of these charitable locals have been unable to provide any in-person assistance to the folks hardest hit by Hurricane Helene. Many have therefore been eager to donate supplies and provisions to those still sheltering in place in western North Carolina.
This desire to donate initially posed a conundrum for city officials in Burlington, who found themselves fielding more offers of relief supplies than they could send with the city staff members who’ve been deployed to the scene.
Morgan Lasater, the city’s community engagement director, acknowledged the city’s predicament when she spoke with The Alamance News earlier this week.
“People want to donate but road access is limited,” she elaborated on Monday. “People have been donating to the animal shelter because they have a person going up there later this week…But I think it’s important for the community to realize that giving stuff isn’t what’s needed right now. What really is needed is money.”
By Tuesday, however, the city had come up with a plan to accommodate the veritable flood of donations that had begun to pour in from residents as well as businesses. That morning, Burlington’s fire department announced that Burton Logistics had parked an empty tractor trailer outside its headquarters station at 215 South Church Street, and the department invited residents to fill this trailer with supplies for state and local agencies to deploy where they’re needed.
Burlington’s fire chief Matt Lawrence recalled that the city agreed to set up this trailer as an interim measure until the state is ready to take over the collection and distribution donated items.
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“The state is not set up to accept donations right now,” he explained in an interview Wednesday. “They’re still in rescue and recovery mode. “Our goal was to have this trailer filled up before the state begins its operations.”
The fire department has gone on to instruct would-be donors to visit this trailer between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. so that staff members would be on hand to help load the supplies. It has, moreover, limited the items it will accept to nonperishable groceries such as canned food and dry goods, hygiene supplies, household cleaning items, paper products, baby supplies, and bottled water.
Despite these restrictions, Lawrence concedes that the city’s residents have been enthusiastic in their response to the fire department’s drop-off site for donations.
“The response has been huge,” he explained. “Our phones have been ringing off the hook, and we’ve had a constant flow of donations ever since we opened the site yesterday morning.”
Lawrence added that the collection of supplies has been aided by the donation of empty boxes and shipping pallets from Alamance Foods. Meanwhile, Builders Discount Center has provided a set of wooden steps that donors and firefighters can use to lug heavier items directly into the trailer.
The generosity of area residents has also prompted other local agencies and organizations to mount their own donation distribution operations on behalf of the hurricane victims.
Select Bank, for example, has decided to piggyback on the efforts of Burlington’s fire department and Burton Logistics with a second drop-off location at its Burlington branch at 3158 South Church Street. This site will accept the same items honored at the fire department’s headquarters.
Meanwhile, the office of Alamance County’s sheriff has teamed up with Grace Chapel-Freedom Christian Academy to fill up a trailer with relief supplies for residents of Yancey County.
The sheriff’s office is urging interested donors to bring suitable items to the academy’s home at 2401 Eric Lane in Burlington on either Sunday, October 6 or Wednesday, October 9. Donations will be accepted on Sunday from 7:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and on Wednesday between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. The sheriff’s office will haul off items on October 11 to storm survivors in Yancey County, where a number of Alamance County deputies were previously dispatched in order to assist Yancey County’s sheriff.
Also accepting donations is the Alamance County chapter of the YMCA, which is headquartered at 1346 South Main Street in Burlington. The Y’s local chapter is encouraging patrons to contribute bottled water, cleaning supplies, non-perishable foods for both people and pets, baby products such as wipes and formula, and diapers for both infants and adults. The Y’s wish list also includes “heavy-duty” work gloves, hydration packs, manual can openers, plastic sheets or tarps, plastic utensils, socks for both children and adults, sport drink packets, sunscreen, toiletries and sanitation items, tooth brushes and tooth paste, and trash bags.
In all cases, the organization will only accept items that are new or unused on behalf of the hurricane’s victims.
