As a result of community efforts, more than 1,000 pounds of supplies will be delivered to North Carolina families in need this week.
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Mike Partovi has been flying for nearly 18 years. This week, the local pilot, on a multi-trip mission close to his heart, plans to deliver more than 500 pounds per trip of donated relief supplies to North Carolina communities in need following Hurricane Helene.
But how?
Efforts began when Katie McCafferty, who runs the public Instagram page @weloveportorange, took to social media looking for community members, businesses and pilots willing to help with relief efforts for North Carolina residents in need.
McCafferty noted online that her own family had been affected by the storm and, through communication with the state’s Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, had acquired a substantial list of donation needs.
Through social media, she connected and partnered with Angelina and Alberto Strickhouser, owners of Alberto's Pizza Shop in Port Orange and founders of Alberto's Kids nonprofit, as well as Partovi, who works as an air traffic controller out of Daytona Beach.
“There’s a lot of people that want to help and don’t know where to start. So, I said, let’s just put it out there and kind of see what happens — let’s do this … because this could’ve easily been us,” Angelina said. “I’m just very appreciative of everybody that has stepped up to help, like right now, over just 24 hours. It’s been amazing.”
Since announcing the donation drive Monday afternoon, the pizzeria, alongside several other local establishments, continue collecting donations, the very ones Partovi is stocking his plane with in preparation for a series of deliveries to North Carolina over the next week.
More than 500 pounds of supplies to be delivered
In his New Smyrna Beach hangar, Partovi’s 1978 Piper Lance aircraft, also known as PA-32R or the "Suburban of the Skies,” sat stuffed wall-to-wall with deodorant, trash bags, paper towels and other every-day necessities that, after Hurricane Helene, thousands are currently without.
The six-seater, single-engine plane, which he acquired four years ago, can carry roughly 600 pounds of supplies, Partovi noted, and when every pound counts, he’d rather forfeit an extra set of eyes and fly solo this week, carrying as many donated goods as possible.
“I flew a plane before I drove a car,” Partovi said with a smile. “… This is our personal plane, and it’s been fantastic. To be able to use it for something like this is really heartwarming for us, because it’s not just sitting here … we can actually use it to help other people.”
Partovi’s first flight, five hours round-trip, to his assigned North Carolina airport was scheduled to depart around 9 a.m. Wednesday, he said in an interview Tuesday, with several others scheduled between now and Oct. 9. Upon arrival, Partovi, alongside many other volunteer pilots who’ve coordinated flight times, were met with hundreds of volunteers helping to unload and sort supplies.
“The plan is to stay there for the day and (fly) between all the regional airports, moving stuff where it needs to go. Then, at the end of the day, I’ll fly back to do it again the next day,” he said. From the airports, helicopter pilots will transport sorted supplies to hard-to-reach areas in need, he explained.
When it comes to keeping efforts running smoothly, communication among pilots, coordination with relief effort leaders, and keeping a close eye on weather forecasts is key, Partovi said.
A majority of North Carolina’s regional airports operate without traffic control towers, making coordination efforts among pilots of the upmost importance during high sky-traffic delivery times. According to Partovi, pilots will use the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency to communicate position reports and maintain safe flying and landing conditions.
Currently, he plans to make five delivery trips total, scheduling more as needed.
A community in need: Focusing efforts on the Carolinas
“When Helene came, my first thought was well, let’s help Florida. When I started looking into it, there’s so much infrastructure that we have set up already in Florida, that the very next day aid was already going to those that were the most hurt,” Partovi said.
“… I started kind of focusing more toward the Carolinas, because they’re not ready for this kind of stuff and, you know, people have lost everything."
According to the father of two, his family is no stranger to the Carolinas, often vacationing in regions he said were once as familiar as home, yet now entirely unrecognizable.
“We love the mountains. It’s our second home away from home, so it does hurt to see all of that washed away,” he said. “… And we take our kids up there every year, but it’s gone, you know? And my heart goes out to all of those people that — they’ve lost everything.”
Though his demanding schedule as an air traffic controller keeps him occupied with overnights, early-morning shifts and everything in between, Partovi said taking time off, if needed, is “such a small thing” if it allows him to support those struggling in the aftermath of Helene's devastation.
“I work Saturday overnight, and then in the morning when I get home, I plan to sleep for a little bit, and then start the missions going,” he explained, with flights scheduled for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday that will tentatively begin at 7 a.m. and bring him home just before sunset.
“Then, Wednesday is when I’m technically supposed to be back at work, but I don’t go in until 4 p.m. So, I have all day to be able to do this, then come home, relax for a little bit, decompress and go into work.”
The steadfast aviator, propelled by a profound sense of responsibility to offer support, noted that in times like this, no donation or assistance effort is ever too small.
“As long as we have stuff to move, we'll just keep going. And I know the community's coming out huge and donating a lot. Even a bar of soap right now to the people who are hurt and devastated is probably a godsend,” Partovi said.
“...There’s a lot of strangers just doing anything for anybody, and that’s the beauty of it. Our community is so strong and put together.”
Donations are still being collected at the following drop-off sites:
For information, visit facebook.com/albertospizzashop or albertoskids.org.