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News Last Updated: October 02, 2024

Promo Pros Aid Devastated NC Communities in the Wake of Helene

Stephen McFadden of The Specialty Company was among those taking action and encouraging support.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Veteran promotional products professional Stephen McFadden considers himself lucky.

There was heavy rain and a tornado warning that had the director of vision/new business at distributor The Specialty Company (TSC, asi/341203) and his young family hunkering down for a time.

Ultimately, though, they were fine, and McFadden’s town in central North Carolina emerged with few issues after the remnants of Hurricane Helene swept through.

The same, sadly, could not be said for his fellow North Carolinians in the western portion of the Tar Heel State. And now McFadden – and other local promo professionals – have stepped up to support relief efforts. They’re asking other industry pros to consider doing the same.

Punishing wind and rain that reached over 30 inches in spots ripped through North Carolina’s mountain region last week. Buncombe County, which contains the scenic mountain city of Asheville, was especially hard-hit by Helene’s remnants, which were a still highly destructive tropical storm when they reached North Carolina.

Floodwaters and mudslides reportedly washed away whole communities and savaged infrastructure in western North Carolina, knocking out cell phone service, electricity and water supply and destroying or blocking roads and bridges needed to access the region.

Of the 120 confirmed fatalities from Helene across the Southeast as of Tuesday morning, Oct. 1, a reported 40 occurred in Buncombe County. The number was expected to keep rising.

“We are seeing just piles of people’s houses that were destroyed. Buildings that were destroyed. Cars overturned,” Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said Monday. “The power lines look like spaghetti. It’s hard to describe the chaos that it looks like. It really feels like a postapocalyptic scene.”

Taking Action

As reports of the devastation began pouring in, McFadden knew he had to do something to help, not least of all because a co-worker’s father lives in Morganton, NC, another locale impacted by severe flooding.

“We were extremely fortunate,” McFadden told ASI Media. “There are many others who weren’t, and we wanted to help.”

Through his own personal donations and working his local community network, McFadden raised several thousand dollars he put toward purchasing essential supplies, including water. He loaded up a U-Haul and then headed west to Morganton on Sunday.

He also brought a chain saw, intending to help cut away fallen trees. But, after arriving, he soon learned it was too dangerous to begin the work.

“The cities were in triage,” McFadden said. “There were power lines down every 100 to 200 feet. Until those can be dealt with, there’s not much you could do in regard to cutting trees besides on people’s properties.”

Stephen McFadden“We were extremely fortunate. There are many others who weren’t, and we wanted to help.” – Stephen McFadden, The Specialty Company (asi/341203)

Still, McFadden had the supplies in tow and soon connected with the director of assisted living and hospice care for facilities in Morganton, Boone and Asheville. He coordinated the drop of supplies with the director at the Morganton facility.

Then, he drove over an hour east to resupply, returning with another U-Haul load. He had to make the approximately 90-mile roundtrip journey because stores closer to Morganton were already out of water and canned foods by 3 p.m. Sunday, he said.

In all, McFadden said he and helpers delivered two loads that included: 2,832 bottles of water, 75 bottles of Tylenol, 50 bottles of ibuprofen, 40 tubes of Neosporin, 150 packs of wipes, 530 adult diapers, 50 medical kits, 39 jars of peanut butter, 120 cans of chicken, 200 packs of peanut butter crackers, 25 dry shampoo bottles, 75 tubes of toothpaste and 80 packs of apple squeeze.

So much more is needed, though. And he’s urging others to contribute. “There is a lot of immediate need,” said McFadden, noting folks can reach out to him directly if they prefer at (919) 244-9197.

Want to help folks in North Carolina? Consider donating to:

The North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund

Operation Airdrop The American Red Cross

Meanwhile, Brand Fuel (asi/145025) was also digging into relief efforts.

“We are working in conjunction with the nonprofit community to both understand current and ongoing needs as well as to determine the best channels for donations, in-kind or cash,” said Brand Fuel Co-President Danny Rosin. “There are a lot of potential imposter GoFundMe sites popping up. Make sure to only work with the vetted/reputable resources.”

Rosin noted that Brand Fuel, whose North Carolina office is in Raleigh, was not severely impacted by the bad weather. “We saw some events get canceled or move indoors, like the International Bluegrass Music festival where we’ve handled merch in the past,” Rosin told ASI Media. “Some roads were closed for a day, but it was nothing worth writing home about.”

In western North Carolina, however, the story was, of course, different.

Still, some industry firms were already picking up the pieces and getting back to work, if their situations allowed. Boone, NC-based Go Postal in Boone (asi/208859) announced that it was open this week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“Shipping carriers are picking up regularly,” Go Postal said in a Facebook post. The company saw internet service restored Monday, adding: “[We] missed our customers this weekend. ... Our hearts are with the community. Stay safe out there!”

Meanwhile, Mary Osborne of Promo Savvy (asi/300713) told ASI Media on Oct. 2 that her Boone-based distributorship was operating again. Still, the situation locally remained tough.

“I truly have no words for what we in western NC have and continue to go through,” Osborne told ASI Media. “It is beyond anything I have ever seen. Many have lost everything: their homes, businesses and, sadly, their lives.”

Osborne further shared that the community is pulling together. “We’re doing all we can to help each other, whether supporting open businesses or providing goods and services to those in need,” she said. “We are a university town and a tourist location, and I expect our beautiful area to be impacted for quite some time.”

Eye on Florida

Hurricane Helene roared ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region last Thursday as a Category 4 storm. The devastating winds reached 140 mph, and the ocean fumed, with catastrophic storm surge reported. Helene subsequently “lessened” into a tropical storm, but that didn’t stop it from unleashing the deluge on parts of other states as it traveled north, including North Carolina.

In Florida, the professional operations of promo companies and the personal lives of their employees were also impacted. Normality, at least for some companies and their personnel, was returning. Such was the case for Counselor Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480).

Donate to the American Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Helene in Florida.

Donate to the Salvation Army to aid Hurricane Helene relief efforts.

“Employee safety was our primary concern through the storm, and to our knowledge, everyone is safe,” Koozie Group Chief Operating Officer Matt Cook told ASI Media. “We resumed normal operations in one of our buildings as soon as evacuation notices were lifted Friday morning. Our second building was affected by both storm surge and power loss, which wasn’t restored until Saturday evening. Our teams were ready once we ensured it was safe to reenter the building, and we’ve been running since to minimize customer impact.”

Cook noted that Koozie Group’s customer service team and Minnesota/Missouri facilities operated normally during the disruption from Helene and continue to do so. “We’re thankful for the well wishes sent by the industry and appreciate our customers’ understanding and patience,” Cook said.