Compassion and humanity rule at relief distribution center

I had the privilege of volunteering at the distribution center that opened at the Foothills Higher Education Center in Morganton, and I wanted to use this column to highlight the people and kindness I witnessed firsthand.

Dad came home early from the hospital on Monday, Sept 30, and suggested we volunteer at the relief center which had been set up at the Foothills Higher Education Center.

It had just opened that morning, and when he left the hospital at noon, there was already a line of cars backed up on South Sterling Street.

Shortly after arriving we quickly were put to work jumping from task to task, disappearing and reappearing from one another.

By the end of the day, we were both in an assembly line unloading incoming trucks and cars and as we hefted cases of water onto platforms. I swear my dad, a 58-year-old graying attorney, turned back into the 12-year-old boy from North Hampton County who spent summers loading bags of peanuts into the sun-baked trailers of 18-wheelers bound for places he could never imagine.

The rest of the week I came back to Foothills and from morning until told to leave worked alongside a small army of dedicated volunteers.

Sarah Thawley, a student at Western Piedmont Community College put every guy in the loading dock to shame.

She was always the first to jump in and unload the contents of an 18-wheeler, the first to grab a pallet jack to drag a load of supplies off the forklift, and when we needed help, she wasn’t afraid to run inside and rustle up volunteers.

Sarah was doing all of this while telling jokes to brighten everyone else’s day and never complaining. It wasn’t until the end of the week that I learned that during the storm multiple trees landed on her home above her bedroom and that because of the damage, she was sleeping in the passenger seat of a camper.

Even with how unpredictable days could run we settled into the organized chaos. Every volunteer was assigned or jumped into a role.

There were front entrance workers taking information about who we served and organized how many people entered and left the center.

Table workers were organizing and handing out supplies from dog food to baby formula.

We had stockers who would bring shopping carts full of supplies from one end of the great room to the other to stock tables and organize surplus goods.

Finally, there was a group that worked in the loading dock, unloading deliveries and donations.

At any moment while working you could find yourself working beside students, teachers, parents, kids, a county commissioner, a volunteer fireman, and a national guardsman, all working hard and committed to serving the community.

I am also incredibly thankful for the hospital, local churches, and community organizations that delivered snacks and meals for myself and fellow volunteers around the clock.

The other amazing part of serving at Foothills was being able to see the shipments from not only across North Carolina but all across the eastern United States.

There was a caravan of families with horse trailers full of supplies from Jacksonville, Fla., and an older couple with their trailer of aid from Cambria County, Pa.

One group of women drove their truck from Raleigh where they partnered with the Wake Forest Fire Department and local community. Every day they delivered a U-Haul truck bursting with supplies.

After we unloaded their truck, they took an hour to rest at the Foothills Center and then climbed back in their truck and went on their way to make another trip back and forth.

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, I rode to the Foothills Airport to pick up supplies that had been brought in by air. I met with Joe Potrovsky and his daughter, Katie, who had flown their little Cessna airplane crowded with supplies from Knoxville, Tenn.

One supply truck brought a young couple and their 18-month-old daughter from Murrells Inlet, S.C. While we unloaded supplies the dad shared, “We wanted to help because two years ago (after Hurricane Ian) y’all came to us.”

This experience taught me the true importance of the axiom “neighbors helping neighbors.”

Many of the volunteers I served with shared that they had trees on their houses, had damage from leaks, didn’t have electricity, didn’t have hot water to bathe or cook with, and needed the supplies we were giving out just as much as the people we served.

And still they came (some with their whole families) to Foothills to serve and work without complaint and with smiles on their faces.

The other lesson that stuck with me is that in times of hardship, people just give. One group that stuck with me was from Conway, N.C., in Northampton County, a food desert where folks have very little for themselves already, but who came together to ship four 18-wheeler trucks to provide relief in western North Carolina.

I think at a time when everything seems so divisive and dark, it’s nice to be able to step back and witness the compassion and humanity folks have.

Through acts of service and donations from members of the community, Foothills was able to give relief to over 10,500 hurting people across Burke County.