Lebanon County residents are contributing tremendously to their fellow Americans in western North Carolina following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
Led by Scott Diller, CEO of Mount Aetna-based logistics company Lanita Specialized LLC, local residents, businesses and service organizations have donated enough goods to fill seven large-sized tractor-trailers for Hurricane Helene victims.
Mount Aetna is located just across the line in Berks County, about 3 miles north of Myerstown.
Jordan Waybright, owner of Offroad Motorsports & Cycle Sales, said he was planning to do some kind of relief effort when he was contacted by Diller via a group chat message.
“It was sent to about 15 to 20 of us friends and other business owners and it said, ‘Hey, this is what I want to do. Do you want to get onboard?’” said Waybright. “Just about everybody in that group chat said they were willing to help one way or the other. I reached out to Scott and said, ‘Hey, you’re on the east side of the county and I am on the west side, why don’t we put a truck here, too. We’ll collect donations here and you collect donations there.’”
As relief efforts spread by social media, word-of-mouth, and through local businesses, both big and small, the outpouring of support has been tremendous, according to Waybright.
“We had a lot of other businesses donating money, cash, and checks,” he said. “We’re using that to buy pallets of goods from wholesale outlets. And then we have other restaurants and businesses stepping up and donating skids of water and other supplies.”
One of those businesses is 911 Rapid Response in Annville. Waybright said owner Mark Sallada has notified him that they had collected numerous skids loaded with donated goods.
“We did nine skids and we have three skids and a pile of clothing that went down on Monday,” said Sallada, whose business is a supplier of first-responder safety equipment. “And we have six skids that are being picked up tomorrow and going to be taken down.”
While businesses have rallied their employees during relief efforts, service organizations and individuals also have been donating items and delivering them to Waybright’s ATV business in the 2300 block of Route 72, Jonestown, or to Lanita, in the 7600 block of Lancaster Avenue, Mount Aetna.
Nonperishable and other items, including new or slightly used clothing, will be accepted until the close of business at both locations through Friday, Oct. 11. After that, monetary donations will still be welcomed, according to Waybright.
Waybright said Boy Scouts, church groups, local students, and employees of the Lebanon VA Medical Center are among the many organizations who are lending a hand during this time of great need.
Lebanon County government’s wellness committee, which does charitable work, decided to provide aid as part of its community service work. All 640 county employees have been encouraged to make donations for the cause, according to wellness committee members Dawn Poliseo and Danielle Emerick.
“We were talking about the holidays because we do a charity (fundraiser) during the holidays,” said Poliseo. “So then it was brought up about helping the hurricane victims, but we weren’t sure with the short notice. That’s when it was brought up that it had been seen on Facebook that Offroad Motorsports and other businesses were taking donations.”
“We had a better turnout than I thought we would,” said Emerick. “A lot of people are really on board with helping. Some asked us if we could hold off on delivering until the 10th because they want to bring more things in. Some have dog food in their cars that is heavy and they haven’t brought that in yet, either.”
Waybright said goods delivered to his business runs the gamut from healthcare and hygiene products to bottled water, clothing, diapers and other nonperishable consumer goods. As a pet lover, he’d like to see more donations of dog and cat food before the next batch of trailers head south.
“I’m a big pet guy, so it would be awesome to get more of that,” said Waybright as he described donations received through Tuesday afternoon. “One church put together these gym bags and inside each bag were personal hygiene kits.”
Individual donations have been so numerous that Waybright said his staff – and even more so Diller’s – are overwhelmed to get them prepped for shipping. That has led to a decision to change donations moving forward after Friday’s deadline to money-based, a sentiment that’s echoed by Sallada.
“We’re not sure about future donations,” said Waybright. “We’re going to call it for now and see what happens, but monetary donations will still be accepted. We’ll get the items we have boxed up and the skids ready to go.”
“If we do donations again we’re going to label what we specifically need. There will be no food or clothes donations. Blankets, bigger ticket items and other things like that,” said Sallada. “There are people who won’t have power for months, so we are looking to help them.”
Sallada said he’d have details about future donations later this month and encouraged those interested in making monetary contributions to watch 911 Rapid Response’s Facebook page for more information.
“The next thing we’re going to ask for are monetary donations,” he said. “When we buy larger items, we can drop ship it. We’ll be in contact and ship directly to a fire department who will distribute them directly since they’ll know where the need is.”
Sallada encouraged readers to know to whom they are donating before helping out.
“I highly encourage you to not send donations online or to mail a donation without knowing its destination,” he said. “Do it so you know where your (aid) is going to make a difference.”
This message was posted on Tuesday to their Facebook page: “We just purchased a new $500.00 generator with the donation money and shipped it to Alleghany Rescue Squad. They will make sure it gets to someone without power for the foreseeable future. Your donation will keep someone warm in the coming weeks. Stay tuned in the next two weeks for other needs. It’s important we receive only needed items and work with reputable organizations.”
Both Waybright and Sallada told LebTown they’ll be making trips to North Carolina to volunteer their services once they ascertain where the need is greatest. Waybright said he plans to travel with the next round of goods to learn how he can reach rugged areas or those with places with destroyed highways to deliver goods via side-by-side all-terrain vehicles.
Sallada said he plans to take cadaver dogs later this month to help locate individuals who perished during the storm and subsequent flooding that hammered portions of western North Carolina, especially around the Asheville area.
A strategic plan, of sorts, will possibly come together today.
Lebanon County Commissioner Mike Kuhn told LebTown that a meeting between Waybright, Diller, and YMCA officials will be held this morning to determine how even more businesses and community members can help. There will be a two-prong approach to discuss rallying even more businesses to assist in North Carolina in the months to come with an eye to potentially lending aid in Florida as well should Hurricane Milton do massive damage there.
“These efforts can be overwhelming and that’s why I’m trying to coordinate a meeting to get even more businesses involved,” said Kuhn. “People not only need help now but are going to for months to come.”
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