by Kaleb Graves
This past Thursday, I loaded up my hatchback and drove the Hurricane Helene recovery supplies donated by ERUUFians up to Asheville. The diverse donations included food, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, blankets, and more. The week before, I learned that our initial donation destination was no longer accepting supplies. With help from UU Justice NC, I identified Tranzmission as a Western North Carolina nonprofit who would benefit best from ERUUF's donated items.
Tranzmission is a small organization in Asheville that serves queer folks living in Buncombe County. When Helene hit, regular donations for their food pantry dried up, and their newly opened non-food inventory was emptied. ERUUF's donations helped fill this chronic gap. LGBTQ+ people living in the Asheville area, who are much more likely than their cishet counterparts to experience poverty and other socioeconomic hardship, were blessed substantially by our congregation's generosity.
On my way up to and back from Asheville last week, it was hard to look at the destruction still present in Western NC. Entire houses, flooded away from their foundations, lay in waterways. The flood damage line was over my head in some areas. This is going to be a long, slow recovery for our fellow North Carolinians. Even when media attention moves on, I hope that we can continue to keep our ears and hearts attuned to the needs of our Western communities.
