- Video shows one of the donation drop-off locations in Jackson, Christoff & Sons.
- Great Lakes Generators LLC has been collecting donations for several days and plans to drive to North Carolina to deliver them on Friday.
- See donation drop-off locations below. Donations are being accepted through Thursday.
To Celia Croff, Western North Carolina is a second home. She says, "It's something very personal for us and near and dear to our heart." She and her husband lived there for some time before settling down in Jackson. When they received a text from a friend about Hurricane Helene, everything came to a halt. "When he texted us and told us how bad it was, that's when we knew we had to help," says Croff
Croff's friend, Thea Helderman, lives just outside of Boone, a town in North Carolina that's been highly impacted by Helene. On a phone call, Helderman explained, "Every day since the storm, all you hear is helicopter after helicopter after helicopter. I mean, it sounds like a warzone. My husband is a first-responder, so he's been on, pretty much, 48-hour calls."
Hearing about the devastation, the Croffs knew they had to help. They posted on their business's Facebook page, Great Lakes Generators LLC, that they were making the drive to deliver what donations they could compile. With the help of the neighborhood, the number of trailers loaded with donations tripled in a matter of days.
Croff says, "The Jackson community has honestly come together, and we were not expecting this level of support."
Great Lakes Generators is collecting donations at five drop-off locations, across the county, before they head south Friday morning. Donations will be accepted through Thursday.
"Even though people can't physically get to North Carolina, just to know the community as a whole is coming behind us to help us provide those desperately needed resources and items for the people of North Carolina," says Croff.
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