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We hold in prayer all those impacted by Helene and we give thanks to and for all those who have donated needed supplies, contributed financially, or volunteered to help with the immediate response and long term recovery.

As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene approaches, we are pausing for a long overdue post to share information about the work LDR Carolinas (LDRC) is doing to support Long Term Recovery in both North and South Carolina. While both states experienced significant damage over widespread areas from Helene, the type of damage was different in each state. We cannot emphasize enough that the work of recovery is very different in the two states. 

Previous blog posts and our social media posts on Facebook have included information about our work immediately after Helene and how it has evolved in recent months.  We also have a new Instagram account.

Right now, our work is focused in three major recovery projects:   Bridging Together in NC, Volunteer Coordination in both NC & SC, and the organization of the Lakelands LTRG in SC.  

Bridging Together

This partnership with Mennonite Disaster Response (MDS) to rebuild private bridges destroyed by Helene has been slowly gaining momentum.  Bridging Together has now completed seven bridges, with many more planned for the coming months. Many of the bridge building volunteers are Mennonite and Amish farmers who do not have time to volunteer in the summer but will be available through the winter. 

We have been blessed with significant grant funds from Lutheran Disaster Response, the Western North Carolina Community Foundation and the American Red Cross, as well as funding from the NC Emergency Management Department to provide for engineering and permitting costs as well as materials to build bridges with volunteer labor.  Ray meets regularly with our partners at MDS, as well as other organizations building private bridges in Western NC.  He also serves as chair of the new Private Roads and Bridges Committee of the NCVOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster).

Volunteer Coordination

Amy Phillips began work with LDRC in mid-January as our WNC Response Coordinator.  She has been working in partnership with NovusWay, who provides housing for many of our volunteers – both the groups registered for Servant Camp at Lutheridge and Lutherock – plus the groups that work with us directly to plan their service trips.   

Amy has also been coordinating with many other organizations working toward recovery in WNC to provide a wide range of volunteer opportunities from muck out, debris removal, and repairing damaged homes to helping prepare and serve food to the hungry.  You can read more about our work in WNC in a recent article on the NC Synod website.

We are also glad to have Jonathon Weant working with us part-time, coordinating work projects and volunteers in the High Country of NC, near Boone!

Kelli Fulmer began work with LDRC in April as our SC Response Coordinator.  She has been working with the SC Office of Resilience and other organizations to identify needs and then work to meet those needs.   Some of the projects she has organized include packing out the contents of homes in preparation for mold remediation, working with VOAD partners to get roofs tarped (or re-tarped after nearly a year of wear), working with local non-profit organizations or contractors to remove fallen trees from property or homes,  and locating and coordinating with local contractors to do plumbing and electrical repairs.

Volunteers in SC have worked on projects including replacing kitchen cabinets and repairing or rebuilding porches and handicap ramps.   Volunteers have come from UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), Newberry College, local Lutheran congregations, and the local community.

There is an ongoing need for volunteers to help with recovery!  Visit our Volunteer Page for more information on volunteering in either NC or SC.

Above:  Volunteers working on repair projects in SC

Lakelands LTRG

Thanks to grant funding from the American Red Cross, we are working to organize the Lakelands Long Term Recovery Group (LTRG) to provide coordinated recovery efforts in Greenwood, Edgefield, Abbeville, McCormick, Newberry, and Saluda counties.   Kelli Fulmer is taking the lead on this project as the group identifies local leadership, develops bylaws and processes, and works toward becoming a 501c3 non-profit organization.  The work of this group includes weekly meetings of an unmet needs committee to address the needs identified by disaster case managers at SCOR (South County Office of Resilience).

Ongoing Preparedness

In addition to those three major recovery projects, work to support congregational and household preparedness continues in both synods.  In just the past few months, Ruth Ann and/or Ray have been in congregations across South Carolina from North Myrtle Beach to Aiken and several locations in between to preach and lead programs on preparedness. 

We have spoken with local Lutheran Men in Mission gatherings and the SC Women of the ELCA convention about the work of LDR Carolinas.  We have also been present at community events in western North Carolina, distributing children’s comfort kits and preparedness resources.   

We are grateful to Lutheran Disaster Response for providing a recent training for (33) rostered and lay leaders from both NC and SC.  This MESS (Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Stabilization/Support) training helps prepare disaster responders to walk alongside those who have been impacted by a disaster. 

We are also grateful for the work of our administrator Emily Lemoine who has worked diligently to acknowledge every donation, helped move donated items, and provided support with many projects!

What’s Next?

Our ongoing work of preparedness and recovery will continue.  We have more Congregational Preparedness Workshops planned for the coming months.  Look for more information about these coming soon or contact Ruth Ann to learn more about scheduling a visit to your congregation.

We are sponsoring a special worship service on the first anniversary of Helene.  It will be at Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Arden NC at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 27.  There will be a reception following the service and crisis counselors from Hope4NC will also be available for conversation. It will be streamed on our Facebook page.  Texts and prayers are available for congregations to use in their own worship that weekend.

We will be present at the NC & SC Fall Leadership Convocations at Lutheridge in October.   Visit our display table to talk with us about the work of LDR Carolinas.

We are planning a 6-week online book study on A Ready Hope beginning Thursday January 8.  We will meet on Zoom at 7:00 p.m. each week.  We can provide one FREE copy of the book per congregation.  Talk with Ruth Ann at Fall Convo to pick up a copy.

And we already have another MESS Training planned for May 2026.  This next one will be held at SC Coastal Retreat Center on Isle of Palms May 18-20!  Look for registration information coming soon!

Join our LDR Carolinas Network to get more details about these events and our network meetings on Zoom.

Finally

Thanks to the entire LDR Carolinas team and all the volunteers and donors who have helped support the long-term recovery efforts in both North and South Carolina!

Late last summer, we suggested that congregations consider filling Children’s Comfort Kits and/or Clean Up Kits (aka flood buckets) as a God’s Work Our Hands Day project.   Helene impacted the Carolinas just weeks later and large quantities of these kits – plus personal care kits, quilts, and many other items – began arriving at the NC Synod office and congregations that had agreed to serve as collection points. 

We continue to be grateful for that outpouring of care for others in need!  We delivered kits to congregations and partners in western NC, SC, and TN for areas affected by Helene and other flooding that followed later in the fall.

As flooding continues to occur in locations across the Carolinas from Tropical Storm Chantal and other storms and we are just entering peak hurricane season, we see a continuing need for clean up kits and would like to encourage congregations to assemble more.   The instructions are available here.  We still have several hundred children’s comfort kits so we do NOT need more of those at this time.

Please remember to follow the packing list so that all the items fit inside the bucket with the lid closed.

Because our storage space is limited, it would be helpful if you can store the buckets until they are needed.  If you assemble kits that you can store, please contact Emily so we will have an inventory of available kits.  If you do not have storage space, please contact Ruth Ann so we can work together on transportation and storage arrangements.

Here are some suggestions if you are looking for other ways to support ongoing – and future – recovery efforts:

We continue to accept small quantities of quilts that will be used in Welcome Kits as home repairs are completed and families are welcomed back into their homes.  Please contact Amy to make arrangements.

While we are not requesting other items to help fill those kits, you can help by providing gift cards for Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon, or Ingle’s.  (We do not need additional Food Lion cards at this time.) Gift cards are very helpful because they support the local economy and are easily transported and stored.  These cards can be used to purchase supplies, tools, building materials, and items to fill the welcome kits.  Ingle’s cards can be placed in the welcome baskets or given to families in need.    

Of course, we also welcome financial contributions to LDR Carolinas to support our ongoing ministry of disaster preparedness and recovery or to Bridging Together to help replace private roads and bridges in western NC to help get people home.  Checks should be mailed to either LDR Carolinas or Bridging Together, c/o NC Synod, 1988 Lutheran Synod Drive, Salisbury NC 28144.

Gracious God,  

Your word of peace stills the storms that rage in our world. Bring hope to places that know devastation in the calm after the storm. Bring comfort to those who grieve the loss of loved ones and property. Let your love be known through those who work to bring order in the chaos. Help us to shoulder the burden of suffering and make us bearers of the hope that can be found in you through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. 

As we continue to pray for those affected by the devastating flooding in Texas and New Mexico, we turn our attention to the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Chantal and additional storms here in the Carolinas. 

We are reaching out to the pastors of our congregations in the affected areas to learn more about the situations they face and are also working with our partners in VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) to determine the best ways to respond to this storm.  

The prayer above calls on all of us to help shoulder the burden of suffering and make us bearers of hope, so the next question becomes “How can we help?” 

As we shared in a quick Facebook post after the flooding caused by Chantal, the best way to help is always by donating financially.  We suggest you support Lutheran Disaster Response or LDR Carolinas to support the response.   

We also want to caution you – as we always do:  please do not self-deploy or send stuff to the affected areas.  You may ask why we say those same things after every disaster.   We have learned through our own experience, through FEMA training on Volunteer and Donations management, and through the repeated experience of others that both are problematic, no matter how well intentioned.    

If you have heard us speak at preparedness workshop or even preaching at an LDR Sunday, we share this along with the good news: 

Please do not ever self-deploy.  DO help your neighbors as you are able when a disaster affects your community, but don not just show up in an impacted area after a disaster, no matter how experienced you are.  Instead, work with LDR or another reputable volunteer organization.   

They will direct you how to help where it is needed most and will help you arrange housing.  Otherwise, you may be putting yourself in danger, using resources the community needs for disaster survivors, and actually complicating response efforts.   

Last fall after Helene, we heard numerous stories about volunteers endangered or injured when trees fell, additional mudslides occurred, or damaged roads continued to collapse.  We also heard from some well-meaning folks who arrived in a specific location and were upset when they could not find anyone who needed the type of help they were prepared to offer. 

Please don’t ever send stuff – not even bottled water – unless it has been specifically requested AND you know that someone in the disaster area is prepared to accept it, store it, and distribute it to those in need. Don’t ever send used clothing. 

We can tell you from personal experience about the challenges of storing, sorting, and distributing donated items – especially clothing – for months after a major disaster. We heard soon after Helene about tractor-trailer loads dropped off in small towns that were not prepared to handle that quantity of supplies and piles of used and unusable clothing that then needed to be discarded as trash.    

Many disaster response professionals consider excess donations to be the second disaster because they require space and time that are often in short supply after a disaster. 

Do give financial support!  In addition to donating directly to organizations at work in disaster response, consider sending gift cards for major retailers to the groups responding to the disaster.  Those financial gifts help responders and area residents affected by the disaster shop locally to purchase items that are needed.  This also supports the local economy by helping local businesses and their employees get back to normal!   

If you want to read about these same concerns in someone else’s words, here is a blog post from Kathryn Haueisen, the author of A Ready Hope, which is a resource we have used to help train others in how to prepare for and respond to disasters.  Let us know if you would like to read this book.  We have additional copies available.  And yes, we are the couple she mentions in this post!   

Prayer from https://resources.elca.org/lutheran-disaster-response/worship-resource-natural-disaster/    

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/ncweatherauthority