The floodwaters from Hurricane Helene were still receding in the North Carolina mountains, the extent of the almost unimaginable damage still coming to light from two weeks ago, when some employees at Pinehurst Resort suggested using leftover boxes from the U.S. Open as collection bins stationed around the resort and the village for residents to drop off essentials to help the thousands coping with the devastation three hours to the west.
Within a few days, a tractor-trailer had been filled with items and was making its way into the mountains where food, water and other essentials are still desperately needed as the autumn chill settles over an area where heat and power haven’t been fully restored.
“We had bath tissue, paper towels, pallets of pet food, hand sanitizer, water, Gatorade... We started taking blankets and towels. People were taking things out of their pantries to donate,” said Alex Podlogar, media relations manager at Pinehurst Resort.
“A gentleman walked by and said he had a friend in Lake Lure and he was going to Wal-Mart to spend some money to help. It was very organic.”
At the nearby Moore County airport near the epicenter of one of the most golf-rich areas in the country, more than 30 truckloads of materials have been sent to the mountains in U-Hauls, horse trailers and long-bed carriers. More than 3,000 pounds of hay have also been delivered for livestock, and more than 15,000 care packages were produced and delivered.
For some of the most remote areas, a few Special Forces members from nearby Fort Liberty voluntarily helped coordinate package drops via private planes into hard-to-reach spots.
According to a story in the Asheville Citizen-Times, approximately 100,000 residents are still without running water, and approximately 100 bridges are destroyed or will need to be rebuilt.
Tim Kreger, the executive director of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, has worked with the organization’s approximately 1,800 members to gather and distribute necessities to those in need while many golf courses, which provide hundreds of jobs, are dealing with the direct effects of the storm.
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