Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Hearts with Hands has responded to disasters both locally and internationally.
However, as Thanksgiving draws closer, the nonprofit organization is thankful that it has been able to continue serving its own community for almost two months following Helene’s fatal flooding without slowing down.
For municipal, government, and charity organizations attempting to restore a sense of home, the destruction inflicted by Helene’s more than 30 inches of rainfall in some areas of western North Carolina has created a logistical nightmare.
Greg Lentz, the director of Hearts with Hands Disaster Relief, a small family-run nonprofit, claimed that hundreds of volunteers had helped them continue their work since Helene.
“Everything around us was flooded except us, and we’re on the highest point and plateau, probably in that Swannanoa area. The Lord blessed us. We were safe,” Lentz stated. “That led us to immediately start helping people.”
People would bike or walk to Hearts with Hands to pick up water, food boxes, hygiene kits, and anything else they needed to survive in the days following Helene’s catastrophic floods on September 27, when the roads were impassable.
Almost two months after the storm, the warehouse on Warren Wilson Road is still open three days a week for people to get supplies. These items include jackets and blankets as winter temperatures drop. According to Lentz, over 100 persons with needs arrive each day.
“It’s a family effort and a team effort and everybody working together. And so, you know, we couldn’t do it without everybody just understanding. Everybody’s taxed, everybody’s tired, everybody’s exhausted, and everybody’s given their all doing everything they can.”
Hearts with Hands opened its mobile kitchen to provide food for the thousands of emergency workers while the distribution center was in operation. According to Lentz, the group has served 60,000 meals as of two weeks ago.
Additionally, Hearts with Hands is working to ensure that about 550 families going into temporary FEMA housing have all they need to move into their houses by providing them with necessities and home goods.
There may be twenty hours of continuous logistics between the mobile kitchen and other initiatives. Lentz claimed that he primarily sleeps after taking a few days off.
Considering what has already happened and what has to happen for western North Carolina, providing Thanksgiving meals to up to 5,000 individuals after two months almost seems like a minor victory for the group.
Responding to a crisis involves many practicalities, but for the Lentz family, it’s also personal.
“The opportunity just to help our community and our people is just the rewarding part, is knowing that you’re making an impact, and you’re making a dent in a bad situation,” Lentz stated. “When I begin to think about this, begin to contemplate how can we pull this off? How can we make this happen, and how can we do this for our community? And then to see it all come together, you know, and we’re close now to that day coming to fruition, and seeing that is just rewarding in itself.”
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More than a hundred Hearts with Hands volunteers will serve a hot lunch to hundreds on November 26 while the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office cooks turkeys provided by Butterball. On Wednesday, there will be a Thanksgiving meal, as well as winter necessities like blankets.
According to Lentz, it’s important to let them feel they are cared for in addition to guiding them through the expectedly long wait on Wednesday.
But for entire areas in Buncombe County that still require significant rebuilding or repairs, the worst is yet to come. In order to begin rebuilding, Lentz is already organizing the next stage and is enlisting personnel from throughout the nation.
