Hurricane Helene Recovery Along the Appalachian Trail

This past September the southern Appalachia region suffered unprecedented catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene, with over 40 trillion gallons of water (150 trillion liters) dumped on the area in 2 days. Areas that no one thought could ever flood were destroyed by raging torrents carrying enormous trees that had been ripped out of the ground or snapped like toothpicks by high winds. Hundreds lost their lives, communities were wiped off the map, and the landscape was permanently scarred.

Generosity from around the world, from people like you, made it possible for a small team and I to directly deliver over $40K of critical supplies across 8 counties in the weeks following the storm.

This is an ongoing recovery process with a tremendous amount of work remaining. People here have shown remarkable resilience forged by the very mountains that contributed to the destruction. They will put in the work, but the reality is that sheer willpower isn't enough to recover. Materials, skilled labor, and other resources are needed to rebuild and strengthen homes and infrastructure throughout the region.

I can't provide many of those things directly. What I do best is run unreasonably long distances through the mountains. So that's what I'm doing, along the length of the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail which passes straight through the heart of the area devastated by Helene. Over 400 miles of the trail were closed following the storm, and local volunteer organizations have done incredible work to even make this possible. My team and I will be highlighting stories from Helene along the way and raising additional funds for community organizations that continue to be focused on Helene recovery efforts and can put donations directly to use with little overhead or delays. You can track my progress and view media content throughout.

These donations will be split between:

Full transparency: Since these donations will be split amongst multiple charities, the funds will first go to me and then I'll donate to the charities. As part of this, I will match 30% of donations. Someone donates $100, then I donate a total of $130 to the organizations above. As with the first fundraiser, I'll get most of that back as a tax deduction next April. The remaining difference will be my personal donation. This will allow everyone's donation to go further, no matter where you live or who you pay taxes to. Donation receipts and all additional documentation will once again be provided. Donations through GoFundMe are protected, so if you or a charity above is not satisfied that donations have been used correctly you can get your money back. If you feel you don't need the donor protection and would rather avoid the 2.9% GoFundMe fee, you can also send donations by Venmo or Paypal to @randomforestrunner.