Driving Support for Western North Carolina

When your neighbor is in need, you help. So, when Bridget Lassiter, superintendent of NC State University’s Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory, realized the extent of devastation Hurricane Helene wreaked on western North Carolina, she and her employees jumped into action.

Since Sept. 30, Lassiter has worked with colleagues across NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and NC State Extension to find and deliver supplies to research stations in Mills River, Waynesville and Laurel Springs where CALS and Extension employees have distributed them to the communities they serve. First it was a haul of generators, chainsaws and 5-gallon jugs of water. Next she worked with her church, Four Oaks United Methodist, to send up a shower trailer and a washer and dryer trailer to aid impacted residents who didn’t have access to water or electricity. Then she started collecting donations of supplies such as hygiene kits, toilet paper, nonperishable food and jackets at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab. 

Galvanized by her efforts, the CALS community responded with supporting donation sites at the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering’s Weaver Labs and the Central Crops Research Station in Clayton. Other units, including the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, have dropped off donations they gathered at Lake Wheeler Road. And community organizations, such as Garner United Methodist Church, have also pitched in with donations.   

The scope and scale of the storm’s impact, says Lassiter, has undoubtedly moved people to extend a hand. Here’s a list of other CALS-related relief efforts for students, faculty and staff who may want to help.

“It’s never been in our lifetimes that we’ve had a flood like this in the mountains that has really affected our people,” she says. “There was no way they could have even prepared for what happened. I think most people here are like it could have easily been us, so let’s help our neighbors.”

Lake Wheeler Road employees have rallied to help organize and deliver supplies on a near-daily basis for more than a week. Now, Lassiter and Keith Starke, superintendent of the Central Crops Research Station, have partnered to fill a tractor trailer with supplies to take up with the help of Raleigh-based C&L Transport. Both the research station and field lab will be taking donations of a variety of supplies, including:

Items needed:

• 5-gallon buckets with lids
• Animal fencing materials (wire, posts, staples, solar fence chargers, etc.)
• Gasoline cans and propane tanks for camp stoves
• Animal feed (cattle, horses, chickens, dogs, cats)
• Medicine for adults and children (OTC pain relievers, allergy medications, etc.)
• Solar lights (rechargeable)
• Candles, lighters and matches
• Powdered milk and nondairy milk
• Instant coffee
• Batteries (AA, AAA, C, D)
• Dish soap and laundry detergent
• Nonperishable food
• Paper products (paper towels, plates, cups, etc)
• Plastic utensils
• Sanitary wipes
• Cleaning supplies (liquid/spray types, mops, brooms, dust pans, etc.)
• Feminine hygiene products
• Personal hygiene products (tooth paste, soap, shampoo, etc.)
• Diapers (any sizes), baby formula, bottles and baby wipes
• Blankets
• Hand warmers
• Bug spray
• Manual can openers
• Trash bags
• Socks (all sizes, unopened)
• Heavy-duty work gloves
• 2-cycle oil for chainsaws
• Chainsaw blade sharpener kits

Donations for the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory should be taken to 3941 Dr. Bill Gilbert Way in Raleigh. Donations for the Central Crops Research Station should be delivered to 13223 US 70 Hwy Bus W Clayton.

The research stations will not accept bottled water because organizations in the western part of the state have reached capacity for that supply. The Lake Wheeler lab will be shifting in the coming days to serving as a staging area for fencing supplies as farmers and Extension employees in western North Carolina begin to try to corral animals that got loose during the hurricane.

Much like Lassiter, Starke just wants to provide support where he can. 

“It’s just about trying to strengthen the sense of community for western North Carolina. We’re all one community,” he says. “We just want them to know that we see them, and we’re going to try to help them in any way that we can.

In addition to putting up flyers in restaurants in the Clayton area promoting the supply drive, Starke has partnered with the Clayton Police Department to direct donations to the Central Crops Research Station. Kids Country of Clayton and Branch Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in Selma also brought supplies to the research station.

“When things like this happen you kind of pause and think who do I know that could help, how could we join together,” Starke says.

Lassiter, who will work to deliver the supplies collected to humanitarian organizations in the coming weeks, hopes the residents in the communities impacted know there is strength that comes in accepting help.

“All of this is given in love,” she says. “It’s anonymous who gave it and it’s anonymous who’s taking it. We just want them to be healthy and safe.”