Fairview Forest Homeowners Association is raising money to install a GMRS radio repeater to expand radio communications in the community of Fairview, a small mountain community just outside of Asheville. The GMRS radio repeater will be installed near the summit of a mountain and provide additional coverage for the communities of Asheville, Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Fletcher, and others. During power outages, the repeater will rely on a generator for backup power.

All funds raised will be administered by Fairview Forest Homeowners Association, a nonprofit (NC SOS ID: 0249599), and serve to purchase, install, and maintain the GMRS repeater equipment. A team of volunteers will perform all the work, and no one will be paid.

After Helene, many people turned to small walkie-talkies to communicate. However, we all know the practical range of small walkie-talkies is usually much less than the packaging suggests. Their range is also greatly limited by mountainous terrain. There's a solution: A GMRS radio repeater, which will hugely expand the range and reliability of GMRS radio communication in much of the Fairview area and beyond. Although cell service has now been restored, aid organizations and regular folks will still benefit from increased GMRS radio communications in the Asheville area while they strive to restore normalcy to the Asheville area.

Helene was a 100-year storm. In other words, every year, there is a 1 in 100 chance of a similar storm hitting the Asheville area. As remote as those odds might be, we still face hazards such as landslides, flooding, damaged roads, and extended power outages every few years. During those events, cell phones may work, but they do not work well for group communications. Radio communication, on the other hand, is perfect for coordinating groups of people across wide areas, especially during emergencies and disasters. That said, the GMRS radio repeater will more often facilitate conversations between neighbors, strangers, hikers and adventurers, family events, caravans on the nearby interstate highway, and work crews. But when the next big disaster strikes our area, we will be better equipped.

Let's conclude with a short, true story. A few days after Helene ripped our area apart, I was helping to clear debris and fallen trees from a neighbor's driveway on the face of the mountain. I heard a call come over my little camping walkie-talkie. A man repeatedly asked if anyone was an EMT. I am not an EMT, so I stayed out of the way until it was clear that no one was answering his call for help. I replied, "I am not an EMT, but I have a single bar of cell service. Want me to call 911?" He was so thankful someone had heard his call for help. Over the next few minutes, I helped to relay critical details between a 911 operator and the man. Emergency responders were dispatched to help someone in his community who had fallen seriously ill. This illustrates the power of radio. It works even when everything else fails.

Please support our cause. Installing a GMRS radio repeater in the Fairview area is a huge step toward preparing for the next big storm.