Local resident trying to make a difference in lives devastated by Hurricane Helene

A local Fond du Lac resident with ties to North Carolina says she felt a calling to put some sort of humanitarian aid together after seeing the devastation Hurricane Helene left in it’s wake.

Cheryl Meyer had no idea where to start, but just knew something needed to be done. Piece by piece she figured it out, and now, next weekend, October 18th – 20th is the time to ask the people of Fond du Lac to help her out.

Hurricane Helene came on shore of the Florida Panhandle a devastating storm. Not unlike most hurricanes. But what the storm did inland caused as much, if not more destruction than on the coast. The storm moved north, and interacted with a closed off low pressure weather system. A closed off low is a system that is cut off from the flow of the jet stream, which usually pushes systems, keeping them moving across the country. Without the pushing from the upper level winds, Helene was left to just sit in one place and rain itself out. This dumped up to 2 feet of rain over parts of the Appalachian states, including North Carolina. Rivers swelled and towns were flooded. Whole houses were swept away with people still inside them. At least 100 of the over 230 killed by the storm were in North Carolina.

Meyer, who along with her husband, like to vacation in the state, said to see the devastation saddened her and moved her to make a difference. She found a volunteer truck driver from TTI Trucking from Eden who will transport the hopefully full semi truck full of donations, and the Fond du Lac County Airport is allowing their location to be the drop off point for the goods.

Meyer is asking for men’s and women’s clothing, medical supplies like bandages, and ibuprofen, batteries, and flashlights, cleaning supplies, toiletries and baby and pet supplies.

Meyer is also looking for volunteers on donation days to help sort and pack the semi.

She says she’s excited to see the community come together to bless all the people devastated by Helene.