When government can’t seem to come to the aid of those caught up in disaster, it seems like individuals and groups and churches step in and step up to help.
Winn Parish folks have been part of that rescue mission in the wake of Hurricane Helene on the east coast, notably in the Ashville, NC, area.
Rickey Griffin, driving back Tuesday morning to Winnfield with Kelly Fannin after delivering a very large “Care Package” to North Carolina, told the Journal that the whole thing started at a coffee table in Wattsville Center when Fannin and Bobby Bates discussed the situation and challenged “if you donate 10 cases of water, I’ll donate 10 and we’ll take it there.”
Others heard and more and more water started showing up at this neighborhood meeting place. “One thing led to another, then it got on Facebook,” said Griffin. Water was stacked on the back dock of Wattsville Center and soon the first trailer planned for the delivery journey was not large enough and another had to be brought in.
Still the payload grew and yet another, larger trailer was pulled into service, replacing the other. But not only was it water that went east but also gifts of diapers, handy-wipes, canned food, toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste and a new generator, said Fannin. “And I couldn’t tell you how many cases of water.”
The two had thought of driving straight through but at around 8 at night, realizing they couldn’t unload if they kept on, stopped in Livonia, GA. But the “hotel” they found didn’t give them much rest so around 3 a.m. they resumed their journey, arriving in Hendersonville, NC, round 6:30 a.m. This is nearly 40 miles from Ashville, just about as close as you could get at this time from that hard-hit community.
That dawning hours was still a little early for help to be ready but word got out and 15 or 20 members of First Baptist Church there arrived around 8 a.m. to unload the relief supplies into an old Dollar Store building which had been brought into service for this rescue mission.
“We didn’t have to do anything,” noted Griffin. “Those volunteers took care of it all. They assured us that they would deliver these supplies to Ashville.” In this way, folks in Winn reached out to help make a difference to others in need.
