Letter: Thanks to all the Helene heroes

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Thank you to so many people who are heroes in the Helene hurricane shock.

Our neighbor Brooke Sechrist Dunham works for Performance Foodservice; her company gave her food to put out in her front yard for our neighborhood daily. Cheerios, protein bars, paper towels and much more. We are very grateful to Brooke and Performance Foodservice. Thanks to all our neighbors who found water and shared it that first week.

Crisis Response International set up in the B.B. Barns yard with food and water. Amazing angels!

We had two wellness checks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I will always be grateful for their presence and all the planes and helicopters overhead. Thank you, National Guard, police, fire, EMS rescue, Duke Energy, Spectrum, Dominion Energy, the water department, tree services, American Red Cross, hospitals, doctors, nurses, Publix for staying open, and now, school bus drivers and teachers. I am sure the list is long for our heroes.

Thank you, Mayor Esther Manheimer, City Council and others for the updates. So much gratitude to my Massachusetts granddaughter, Rachel Fongeallaz, for all the survival supplies you sent, and my daughter, Marci Taylor, for your supportive advice from Beaufort, S.C. Thank you to all the calls that poured out of our phones when they finally worked. I cried!

Marci also sent Steele Creek Church in Charlotte with two carloads of people with survival supplies to our home. Dreama Colon was in charge of that blessed group. The second family they tried to reach in Fletcher was unreachable because of water.

This has been a spiritual experience that none of us will ever forget. COVID separated us; Helene united us!

On an unrelated but still important note: Ticks, which can transmit Lyme disease and other diseases, are still active in the fall. Don’t  rake leaves. Ticks breed in moist piles of leaves overnight; get a blower. See The Quiet Epidemic, now streaming.

— Jan Dooley
Asheville

Editor’s note: This letter has been updated from the print version.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.