Cover photo: Plumbers Local 200 and elected officials send off a trailer of supplies to North Carolina (Credit – Matt Meduri)
While Hurricane Helene swept the Southeast, small mountain towns in Appalachia received perhaps the worst dose of the natural disaster out of any other part of the country. Not only is the mountainous terrain already unequipped for handling the heavy, uninterrupted rainfall, but the dams failed as well, literally erasing entire towns, buildings, and roads from the map.
The response and recovery efforts have shown the magnanimity of nonprofits, business owners, and other organizations, including, but not limited to, a caravan of pack mules being led through the mountains to deliver supplies and aid to areas inaccessible due to damage and landslides.
Smithtown decided to pitch in to deliver supplies to the communities reeling with total devastation and loss, to the tune of a fifty-three-foot tractor trailer, full of food, water, toiletries, warm clothing, blankets, grills, tents, pet supplies, livestock feed, firestarter logs, and carbon monoxide detectors, along with other non-perishables to help the people through the winter as they remain in shelters or otherwise displaced.
The trailer was donated by Westbury Trailer Leasing and Repair and headed down to North Carolina over the weekend, set to be unloaded at the Burnsville Baptist Church. The goods will be sorted and transported to Avery Airfield in Spruce Pine, about fifty miles northeast of Asheville. Goods will be distributed to the worst-hit areas in Asheville, Burnsville, Swannanoa, Black Mountain, and Chimney Rock.
Once the goods make it to Avery Airfield, boots on the ground will start the distributions. The process is being coordinated by Chad Caton, a Veterans for Trump surrogate who is originally from the affected area. Caton’s team of Veterans will coordinate with Heal-Corp, a critical medical support and humanitarian aid 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to fly the supplies to the devastated mountain communities.
Logistics of the deliveries are being orchestrated by Dawn Bond for the transport of the goods to North Caroline and Kevin Smith of the Long Island Loud Majority (pictured above) for boots-on-the-ground coordination.
Heal-Corp is a team of experienced disaster relief personnel and former Army Green Berets who specialize in coordinating these types of rescue efforts and immediate relief provisions through temporary shelters, essential supplies, and field hospitals.
The trailer was packed last Thursday night at the Plumbers Local 200 headquarters in Ronkonkoma. Along with the union labor, elected officials also helped pack the truck, including Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R-Kings Park) (pictured above left), Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James), Assemblyman Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson) (pictured above right), and Senator Mario Mattera (R-St. James) (pictured below), whose long career with the plumbers’ union facilitated the humanitarian group effort.
“Plumbers Local 200 cares about people in need and that’s what we do,” said Mattera of his union, as well as the Nassau-Suffolk building trades. Mattera likened the disaster to Long Island’s own Superstorm Sandy in terms of devastating impact and a long-winded recovery effort.
“We’re Plumbers Local 200; we care and we’re here volunteering our time to make sure that the people in North Carolina receive any kinds of supplies that are necessary for them to survive,” said Mattera. “Being part of a union, we’re about solidarity. North Carolina, we are here for you to make sure you are taken care of.”
Mattera was joined by Rich Brooks, Local 200 business manager, Joe Squicciarini, business agent, Ed Tedla, organizer.
“It was a privilege to spend the evening helping out with Local 200, their apprentices, and the Nassau-Suffolk trades,” Supervisor Wehrheim told The Messenger. “They are some of the most selfless, generous people, and they did not disappoint. I also need to thank Debbie Virga, of the Commack School District, and the Commack Fire Department, who packed five huge wooden boxes loaded with emergency supplies. We know better than most how difficult these next few months, and honestly, years, are going to be for the people of North Carolina. It’s easy to forget when the news has moved on, but the truth is that these people need help now more than ever. I’m grateful we got to be a part of something together that will undoubtedly make a big difference to those who literally have lost everything.”
