ROLLA, Mo. — Several small business owners in Rolla have decided to use their businesses to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Renee Kennedy, the mastermind behind this grassroots operation in Rolla and owner of Mystical Mini Donuts and Munches food truck, has partnered with Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in North Carolina. She has also partnered with O'Doggy's food truck and Valvoline Express Care in Rolla.
"I just felt compelled and I went to the big stores to see if I could take donations just to get something going down there and collect water, formula and diapers. And couldn't get nobody to bite," Kennedy shared. "I literally prayed about it and I woke up the next morning and knew to call Brian."
Brian Beckett owns the Valvoline in Rolla and Sullivan. Kennedy told him that she wanted to help with the hurricane relief and needed a location for donations. Beckett agreed to help.
Beckett is offering $15 off oil changes if customers bring a donation. A portion of the proceeds from the food trucks will go toward relief efforts.
The food trucks will be on the Rolla Valvoline lot on Thursday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for Hurricane Helene relief.
Accepted items
- Hygiene
- Bottled Water
- Clothes
- Blankets
- Dry Socks
- Formula
Kennedy's goal was to address the heavily impacted areas. She will be renting a U-Haul to drive all the donations to Black Mountain on Sunday.
Black Mountain is "one of the hardest hit areas," according to Shane Lunsford a man who went to the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church looking for his mother after the storm but now who now oversees all the donations and food that comes into the church.
Lunsford said his mother was found safe at the church. He also shared that his wife and five children have been helping from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. everyday since.
"We all go and, and see their beautiful area. They need us right now. So that's why I'm doing it. ... It's just horrible. It's horrible," Kennedy said.
The plan is for Lunsford's team to take the donations in, inventory them, and then distribute it to local resources or individuals in need. They have partnered with about 100 different organizations.
"You know, we are very fortunate to have a lot of folks bringing in supplies," Lunsford said. "We know that this is gonna be ongoing for several weeks if not months for, you know, some of our residents as they're forecasting for us, not even to have potentially water for several more weeks."
"We're providing resources pretty much within about a 50 mile radius of the church here," he shared. Those areas include Black Mountain, Swannanoa, Fairview and other surrounding rural areas.
There is a request for specialty goods, like formula and diabetic items, and food containers right now, Lunsford said.
Lunsford said social media has shown people a lot of the devastation but "what they don't see in those situations is the family that has four kids that now has no house or now has or their house. I was talking with the family this morning that they have three trees on their house and they're worried about their house collapsing."
Kennedy cannot imagine what they are experiencing.
He said it took days for this community to get in touch with the rest of the world and they were finally able to get cellular service back. Lunsford said the hurricane isolated them in so many ways.
"We have a lot of that as well as a lot of folks that are elderly and that can't escape where they're at yet. And so there's all that compounded with all the life that was lost. You know, so our rescuers are really focusing their efforts on continuing to rescue people, but also doing that recovery phase to where we can start to rebuild."
The church has roughly 100 volunteers helping them and in the community Lunsford said their are thousands.
"There from literally all over the country. We have three crews here today from Ontario, Canada, from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from Eastern North Carolina. We had a crew here yesterday from Alabama," Lunsford said.
If you would like to donate you can drop off to the Valvoline at the Rolla and Sullivan locations. There is also a drop off at the Hutchenson Ford Sales, Inc. in St. James.
