“Through the devastation, it was really inspiring to see how many people came together to give donations and help,” said Maggie Barnett of LaHarpe.
Barnett was one of a group of seven who recently returned from a trip to Tennessee to help with relief from the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene. The group included Barnett’s sister, Pat Spencer; niece, Karla Laver Boots; Alexis and Issac Kiepe of Missouri; as well as Angie and Buddy King.
“We want to say a huge thanks to our communities for assisting us in donating supplies and money to the North Carolina hurricane victims,” she noted.
The group packed three trailers with a variety of items ranging from water and food to baby diapers and formula.
“We had 86 packages of diapers alone,” said Barnett. Two of the trailers were hauled by the Kiepes from Missouri. The items collected for the Kansas trailer came from donations over the prior week, many of which came from the LaHarpe VFW.
With the combined three trailers, the group hauled a total of 24,000 lbs. of supplies to the Bristol Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Saturday afternoon. The racetrack served as a staging area for relief efforts.
“When we got there, we had to inventory the items and put them on separate pallets,” Barnett said. “They had kids volunteering from church groups who helped us and they were so polite.”
Barnett added that if they are ever to help in similar situations in the future, they now have a better idea of how to package the donated items. “We couldn’t take anything out of the trailers until they counted and sorted it,” she said.
The National Guard was also on-hand to move the pallets of items inside the speedway. “They then took the items to the different counties that needed them,” said Barnett. “The whole process was unbelievable. It was great seeing so many people help with the effort.”
