Reid Kirkpatrick drove 10 hours through the night to arrive at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church at 10:00 am September 30, where he delivered the supplies generously donated by our Williamsburg churches. As he pulled into town, people were running next to the UHaul cheering.
Reid said to me on the phone, in tears “It reminded me of 2003 when I was a Navy Corpsman and we were delivering supplies to the Iraqi people devastated by war. The people are so grateful.” There were church and community members ready to receive the donations. They had the supplies unloaded and organized in 15 minutes. The first supply taken off the truck was a generator and gas. The local coffee shop owner immediately started making hot coffee for everyone with hot water from the generator’s power. People were hugging and crying. Reid saw many familiar church member faces. They rejoiced at seeing Reid. One church member said to Reid, “We knew you would come.”
They are giving out four water bottles per person to ration the supply.
The Associate pastor says if we can send more supplies, please send WATER, PROPANE, and GASOLINE.
Next Steps
I would like to collect more supplies Friday (October 4) for a second delivery on Saturday. We need volunteers with trucks, gasoline canisters, and trailers to transport supplies. I-40 has just reopened in Old Fort, NC. Future deliveries should occur more quickly. Reid and I have received thousands of dollars through Venmo donations. We need help shopping.
UPDATE from reid: 4pm
Word is I40 is not open; hopefully by the end of the week. No trash collection. All trash goes in designated dumpsters. There are designated meal and water serving stations that will be serving 5000 people a day. The only way out is I26. Sewage, you should be able to flush, but the whole treatment facility is gonna have to be rebuilt. Water system is just now being assessed now that the waters have gone down. It has a lot of problems. It may be a few weeks. Electricity is going to be at least three weeks. Helicopters are flying around everywhere. Search & Rescue vehicles everywhere. People are hiking in from all over the town looking for a meal and a couple bottles of water. But everybody’s pulling together lots of volunteers. Everyone is working super hard to get members in the community fed. It’s both heartbreaking and inspiring and the same time. I’m gonna go see Bud, he’s cooking up all the food from Louise’s and serving it for free. Then I gotta find a place to lay down. Haven’t slept in 36 hours.
[Note: Louise’s Kitchen is the breakfast/lunch restaurant where I was a waitress. Bud is the owner. He is cooking up all the food he has and is giving it away. –Summer]
