GREEN BAY (NBC26) — A local group of volunteers is finding strength in numbers to serve those displaced by Hurricane Helene.
- Video shows local volunteers turned friends in a project to help victims of Hurricane Helene find a new home
- The group represents TN & NC Strong, which is made up volunteers across the state that fix up donated campers and essential supplies to send South
- The group has sent 41 trailers since November, and 28 are currently assigned to a family or individual
- A separate team in Tennessee and North Carolina put the final touches on the trailer before providing it to others
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Kris Moring is a volunteer for change, who said, after seeing photos and videos of towns damaged by Hurricane Helene, she was inspired to help those in need hundreds of miles away.
"I started helping people in September when the hurricane first hit," Moring said.
Last fall, Hurricane Helene left states in the South with billions of dollars in damage. Many were forced to leave their homes.
"(When) we're tired, we get to go home at night, but they have to live it 24/7."
Here in Green Bay, Moring owns a hair salon called Salon 325.
That’s where initial support built up among coworkers and customers to support hurricane victims, especially those in North Carolina and Tennessee, by receiving donated campers to send to those displaced.
"We get snow storms, occasional tornadoes, but nothing that wipes our homes away, your livelihood, your children's toys, their crayons, their coloring books," Morning said. "All [of that] gone in a heartbeat."
As donations piled up, so did awareness.
"I didn’t realize how much it would be when we first started," Lesli Frank, a volunteer, said.
Frank was one of the volunteers jumping in without hesitation.
"We have people in Wisconsin who have really stepped up," Frank said.
Across the state, volunteers assembled to become TN & NC Strong — Fixing up trailers, stocking them up with a variety of essential goods and sending them to a team of volunteers in Tennessee and North Carolina.
"Only God could put the people that needed to be put together in this way in order for this to work," Frank said.
Since November, the group has delivered 41 trailers and 28 of them are currently assigned to an individual or family.
As spring approaches, the work continues on this trailers that will be sent South.
After Thursday's work, the trailer will be power-washed before being hitting the road.
"It takes a lot, a lot of organization, a lot of time, sometimes tears, but we get it done. It's special though, it's special," Moring said.
The trailer in the video will join three others and hit the road to Cosby, TN on March 16, and will wait to be assigned to a family in need.
Click here to donate, learn more and join the TN & NC Strong group on Facebook.
