help one of our local gals with hurricane Helene relief!

Hi folks!

Let’s support one of our island daughters! Our dear friend Kelan Ross was born and raised on Stuart Island and San Juan but has made Asheville, NC her home for the past 15 years. As you know, the area was recently slammed by Hurricane Helene; over 20” of rain (on top of already saturated ground) with 100+ mph wind in spots. Her house was thankfully spared with minimal damage. During the hurricane all roads were cut off, so Kelan and her two sons hunkered down in their home. They ended up seeing all the towns that were upstream of them wash down the river right below their house.

Kelan’s family's most immediate needs are just covered, so now the focus is shifting towards recovery and aid of the community and surrounding areas.

Similar to us, the Appalachian Mountains are extremely remote. There are still thousands of people stuck without supplies or any support.

Kelan is coordinating with her local certified arborist friends, community groups, as well as her children’s school network to reach out to outlying areas and the folks in need.

Her home has become a hub in town for supply drops, coordination, and support for the surrounding area. They just regained power and spotty cell coverage but are projected to be out of water for over a few months.

There is an extreme need for fuel, candles, chainsaw supplies (oil/chains), water, bulk or ready-made food, water purification tablets and systems, pet food, baby supplies, tents, dry clothes, hygiene, first aid, and toiletries. They are making many long trips to unaffected towns to source supplies. Funds will be spent to purchase these necessities and give to those in need that have been stranded.

As most of us know by now, grassroots efforts are the most effective way to directly help during disasters. If you’d like to support the efforts in an immediate way, please consider donating.

With Hurricane Milton on the horizon, I fear government aid will be even more limited as focus shifts to Florida.

We are so lucky that our girl Kelan and her boys survived the disaster and are now in a position where they can help!

Let’s show up and assist one of our own to support another good-hearted and generous community in their time of need.

Thank you

From Kelan on 10/9

Thank you Julia White so much for putting this together We have already made a tangible difference in helping people piece together a day that meets their basic needs. Check out my story to see what kind of places I’m taking the donations to in form of generators, gasoline, camp stoves, space heaters, propane, new socks and underwear, coats, blankets and so much much more. People will be without washing machines, heat, water, showers, flushing toilets… and the temps are dropping into winter freeze at these elevations. Even $20 helps a family cook something warm to eat so don’t feel bad if all you can give seems small because to us right now it feels HUGE. I have no idea economically what will happen here now.. it’s going to be very difficult and a dark time if we don’t all hold each other through this.