For Haywood County residents and others in need, help can be found at the International Sports Complex in the town of Canton.
Canton is running a donation, collection and distribution center. It holds a mountain of supplies, offering virtually everything nonperishable that would be accessible in a grocery store.
“What people need to know is we’ve got all this stuff, and they need to come get it,” said Byron Hickox, Canton’s planning director, who’s running the operation. “And, if they want to make donations, they can bring them here.”
It’s open every day of the week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The address: 305 Silkwood Dr, Canton, NC 28716.
Hickox emphasized the donations are for anyone who comes in: “We don’t ask where they’re from,” he said on Friday morning, standing near a table of baby formula.
An organization, Eight Days of Hope, is also handing out free meals at the front of the complex.
Matt Schlagel, its feeding director, said they can provide up to 2,000 meals daily. They serve from noon until 5 p.m. – or until his team runs out.
The group is also providing showers at the complex from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s offering free laundry service at the armory in Clyde (235 Armory Drive, Clyde, NC 28721), with drop-off between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.
The group will be offering the services for the next few weeks, though the locations may change after the weekend.
Schlagel had just been in Perry, Florida, close to Hurricane Helene’s landfall, before coming to Canton.
Down south, where people have been through hurricanes multiple times, he said residents are more familiar with where to go for food and other relief during an emergency. In Western North Carolina, he said word needs to spread.
“Let your neighbors know,” he said.
Schlagel also encouraged people to come to volunteer, either to offer on-site help or to bring meals to those who are stuck.
On Thursday, group members went out into the community with extra meals.
“We found people that had lost everything,” said Fred Heald, an Eight Days of Hope volunteer. “They couldn’t drive to us because their cars were in the river. They couldn’t walk to us because their shoes were in the river.”
During the interview with Heald, a woman drove up to ask how late the showers were open.
“Thank you,” she replied to the answer, voice cracking and tears in her eyes.
This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at [email protected]. On X: @DouglasSoule.