By Tracy Gordon

On September 29th, my husband and I sat on our couch after getting the kids to bed. I was reading messages from my friend who was begging for help in our ‘Signal’ message group of Army wives. A small group of us have been friends and have stayed in touch for the last 5 years. Hurricane Helene significantly impacted her and her family; she went into detail on the storm’s severity and how their small town of Candler, NC, had been impacted. All the resources were being poured into Asheville, and these small, unincorporated towns were not receiving any aid.

Due to the area having no water, no electricity, and no cell service, her husband Kurt and his friend Dustin decided to do something.  Kurt had retired from the Army two years prior, and their family had filtered well water and a Starlink to support his small disaster preparedness business. Their friend Dustin had a connection for plastic milk jugs and together, they began filling these jugs up from their well and transporting them to their church; Pole Creek Baptist Church. Word of mouth filtered out, and those impacted started finding refuge at the church. By using my friend’s only Starlink in the area to connect, get calls out, and contact friends, they began by giving out a gallon of water per family and a sense of community at the church.

My friend said to all of us in the chat that if anyone was able to provide assistance, the people of Candler and the surrounding areas desperately needed food and water along with other necessities. I checked the GPS to find the location on my phone and told my husband, Lou, “Look, we are only 6.5 hours away; let’s get a load of food to them!” He said, “Let’s go,” and I set up an Amazon list and shared it on Facebook that night. By that next evening, items were pouring in via Amazon on our porch, such as baby diapers, formula, protein bars, batteries, etc.

I said, “I guess we’re doing this!” 🙂

Lou contacted Aaron Adams to see if the church would be interested in helping bring a load of supplies up that Friday. Aaron didn’t even hesitate. My husband looked at me and said, “We’re going to need a bigger trailer.” Aaron’s response was a blessing.  His first response to Lou was “Absolutely, want to meet me at Sams?”. The next thing I knew was that Aaron and Lou were at Sam’s Club purchasing A LOT more essentials. We were blown away by the immediate response of Mount Carmel and the continued support of family, friends, and those we didn’t even know who continued to send supplies. By Thursday night, we had two large rooms in our house overflowing with supplies. Our neighbors from Brushy Fork Farms helped convert our SUV into a freezer with insulation and packed it with several thousand dollars worth of frozen chicken they donated. We called our other neighbors, D&L Meadows, and said we could really use an extra truck and trailer; they responded with “ABSOLUTELY!” God came through time and time again, and we set out early Friday morning. The trip took much longer with all the closed roads, but we made it in about nine hours. The outpouring of love from the church was overwhelming! Our supplies were quickly unloaded as a Chinook flew in. We were able to use the truck and trailer we brought to help haul the food and water from the Chinook to the drive-through supply area by the church parking lot. Every moment was so God-ordained. We spent the night with family in Hickory, NC, that night and drove home the next day. My friend said everything we brought was gone that same evening!

On our arrival home, Lou and Aaron immediately started planning the second trip. Another Amazon list went out. Meetings ensued, planning and coordination were in full swing, and members from the church were approached to see if there was interest in going and helping. The overwhelming answer was “Sign me up!” Eleven men from the church signed up almost instantaneously, volunteering their own personal trucks and trailers. Once again, we were so humbled by everyone’s serving and giving hearts. True Christianity!

Five trucks and four trailers FULL of supplies headed out once again in the early morning on October 27th. We headed down with limited on-ground information about what we would be doing, what the living conditions would be, or even if there was reliable cell service, but we rolled out in faith. We arrived that evening and were given a quick briefing. We set up tents for ourselves to stay in and got to work. Our mission was simple but busy. We needed to fully stock a new supply hub at Lake Lure which was an hour away in the mountains. We needed to empty out the old supply hub at Pole Creek Baptist Church, and reconfigure the new main supply hub and bulk storage sight at the Harmony Singing Grounds.  Then, finally, we set up a bulk storage site to be able to be a donation center for families and individuals in need of supplies and medical aid through the winter…easy, right?

For the next 72 hours, I don’t think anyone stopped working; I’ve never seen anything like it!  On the first day, we were able to open a new supply location next to Lake Lure. We were the first supplies to arrive. Due to the overall generosity of our church’s and surrounding areas’ donations, we were able to fully stock them in one trip. Throughout that day, we continued to stock and prepare the new site to be operational the next day. This involved taking fully loaded F250 trucks with 18-foot trailers (loaded) through switchbacks, up and down valleys, through formerly flooded low areas, and finally backing these trailers through tight spots. The team handled it all like the professionals they were.

Our second day was the most grueling day yet. In order for the distribution hub to be operational, we needed to move all of the existing supplies from Pole Creek Baptist Church to the new site at the Singing Grounds, configure it in a way for easy, realistic access so they could perform bulk supply transfers and act as a drive-up donation center. Our team moved with such efficiency and motivation; something I haven’t seen since my time in the Army. At any given time, we had four trucks and trailers making round trips between the two sites, a team unloading and organizing bulk supplies, a team setting up the drive-through distribution center, and a team packing at Pole Creek. Not only did the Mount Carmel team accomplish all of it, but we also fully reconfigured and set up the new PCS site for winter operations!

Throughout the trip, we moved over 70,000 pounds. 35,000 pounds of water, 20,000 pounds of food and fuel, and 15,000 pounds of clothing. All of this has been directly donated to those who needed it the most. As of November 11, 400 cases of water (17,000 pounds), over 200 diaper boxes, and 5,000 pounds of food were given out to those who needed it the most between the two sites. As we go into the winter months, we continue to pray for those affected who have lost everything. Without the generous donations from all involved, Mount Carmel’s unrelenting desire to serve, and those who took valuable time out of their schedules to join us on the trip, it would not have been successful!

John 13:35 

“By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”

Louis and I experienced this firsthand through Mount Carmel church the past month and are just truly blessed to call this church home.