On September 27, Hurricane Helene tore through Carolina Handling’s territory, causing extensive damage in Western North Carolina, the upstate region of South Carolina and central Georgia. Many homes, businesses and even entire communities were destroyed.
At Carolina Handling, our associates—many of whom were personally affected by the storm—were anxious to assist the relief efforts.
They answered the initial call for help in a big way by donating $21,000 through payroll deduction. A dollar-for-dollar company match brought Carolina Handling’s donation to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief to $42,000.
With elite service at our core, our associates also sought hands-on opportunities to help.
North Carolina associates volunteered at branches of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina in Raleigh and Wilmington to prep food for 36,300 ready-to-go meals that were delivered to Asheville, North Carolina, where sister food bank, MANNA, lost its facility and all its contents to flood waters.
In Upstate SC and Western NC, our associates gathered food and supplies, then set up a drop-off location at the home of one of our technicians who lives in Fairview, North Carolina. There, neighbors and friends could get a meal, use internet service and connect with family members to let them know they were safe.
And in Greenville, South Carolina, associates partnered with humanitarian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, traveling to Arden and Weaverville, North Carolina, to assist with debris cleanup in area neighborhoods.
In the meantime, Carolina Handling stepped in to help with what we know and do best, material handling equipment and processes.
Carolina Handling donated three sit-down forklifts and two 8210 motorized pallet jacks to MANNA Food Bank in Asheville, North Carolina. Two more motorized pallet jacks were delivered to Wine to Water, a nonprofit organization in Boone, North Carolina, that provides clean water to those in need.
“These forklifts have been a lifesaver for us,” said MANNA COO Elizabeth Hipps. “When they showed up, it was a party around here. Everyone was so excited.”
MANNA, which feeds 150,000 families per month in the westernmost 16 counties of North Carolina, had planned to grow into its new 84,000-square-foot warehouse on Broadpointe Drive. But Helene altered the plan.
“Our initial thought was that this new building would allow us the ability to grow because we would not normally need this much space,” Hipps said. “But with the influx of donations, it’s been overwhelming. We even have stuff stored outside the building.”
On Thursday, September 26, as Hurricane Helene was approaching, staff loaded MANNA’s motorized pallet jacks onto its delivery trucks and moved them to higher ground. Inside its former 50,000-square-foot warehouse on Swannanoa River Road, staff spent several hours moving contents off the floor.
“We’d had flooding in the past—maybe six inches or so—so we got everything off the floor,” Hipps said. “That just seems silly now because it ended up being about six feet of water and silt that came in.”
In all, MANNA lost two million pounds of food, seven forklifts, four reach trucks, two scissor lifts, its network server and computer equipment. Amazingly, operations were down for only one day.
“The storm hit Friday, and there was no cell service over the weekend,” Hipps explained. “By Monday, senior leadership was able to gather and set up a temporary location at the Farmers Market on Brevard Road. On Tuesday morning, we set up a table and a tent, and by 10:30 in the morning, we had these (ready-to-go) meal boxes show up.”
The same ready-to-go meal boxes packed by Carolina Handling associates and so many other volunteers across North Carolina.
In the four weeks following the storm, more than 1,800 individuals had volunteered at the food bank, with donations coming from as far away as Indiana, Colorado and South Dakota.
But with needs changing frequently, food bank staff is continually reviewing conditions in the community through its partner agencies.
“We’re still assessing the needs of the 220 agencies we work with that do the actual food distribution,” Hipps said. “Five of them lost their facilities like we did, so we’re assessing what they need to get back up and rolling, as well.”
With a recovery that is expected to last many months, Hipps said food agencies are preparing for the days when the spotlight on Western North Carolina dims.
“The focus is going to die down. We all know that is going to happen, but this recovery is going to be years. It’s heartbreaking.”
