From Tatum Northington
Photos from Boone UMC
BOONE, North Carolina – In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, communities across North Carolina are coming together to provide relief to those affected. Among those helping with local relief efforts is Prattville native Dr. William Northington, a professor at Appalachian State University. Northington, in partnership with Boone United Methodist Church (UMC), is helping collect monetary donations to support families and individuals who are in need after the storm.
The powerful hurricane made landfall last week, leaving a trail of destruction, flooding, and widespread power outages in its wake. Boone UMC, known for its community outreach, quickly organized a donation drive to provide essentials such as food and water to those in need, as well as day care services to those volunteering to help. Dr. Northington, a long-time member of the Boone community and an advocate for community service, took a call to help and has been doing so this week. “My ‘trigger’ if you like, is access to food or food security, especially for children. When they [Boone UMC] said they needed food it was a no brainer. It is mine and Sarah’s major charity contribution whether it’s donating to pay off school lunch debt or in this situation making sure there are supplies so that the people on the ground can do their job,” Northington said.
Northington reached out via social media, along with his mother Sandy Northington, to request help for the community in need. Sandy made a post on behalf of her son, with this plea for help; “As many of you have asked for ways you can help, please consider donating to this cause. It looks likely I’ll be doing Costco runs and deliveries (87 miles each way) every day for the foreseeable future to ensure the children in Watauga are fed. Also feeding breakfast to anyone in the community who comes to the church and needs to be fed.”
The Prattville community rallied behind this request and raised over $3,000 to be donated to the food runs and to Boone UMC.
Sandy said “There was no news really coming out of North Carolina over the weekend, so William had been giving us updates about what was going on in Boone. When his church decided they would open their preschool to give childcare to anyone who needed it, focusing on the first responders and essential workers, they needed food and that was one thing William could do. I asked if I could share on Facebook, because we wanted to help, and within 48 hours friends and acquaintances donated $3,000 with another $1,500 promised, so it became larger than anything we anticipated.”
Dr. Northington thanked the community for their help and emphasized the importance of community involvement, urging people both locally and from surrounding areas to contribute to the cause.
Posted on Facebook, Northington said “Update: Your generosity knows no bounds. You responded to a call and came through greater than I ever could’ve imagined. This started as two fortuitously timed text messages to our dear family friend, Emily, and to our wonderful pastor, Ed, where I basically said I can make a supply run, what do you need? Fortuitous because, at that moment, the staff of BUMC and BUMP were making the decision to continue offering breakfast all week and opening up the preschool as a free daycare with breakfast, lunch, and snacks provided. They needed food supplies, and there was finally something from off the mountain that I could do. When you’re watching your ‘home’ and your ‘friends’, who are really family, lives turned upside down before your eyes, you feel hopeless and aimless. If they needed me to be glorified Instacart I can do that. At this time, please don’t direct more at me. You made sure the fire was lit, but now Boone UMC is back to fully operational and is able to directly take donations at Booneumc.org.”
Those interested in donating can visit Boone UMC’s website for more information on how to contribute financially. www.Booneumc.org
Right now, monetary donations are what is most needed. Boone UMC has been working very closely with the community, hosting food and childcare ministries, as well as having crews of people working with chainsaws in Boone.
As North Carolina begins the long road to recovery, efforts like these will be critical in helping families rebuild and move forward.
