By Nile Mangum and Lucy Heery
Riverside’s Environmental Club is collecting donations for Western North Carolina, which has been severely impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Students are gathering anything from hygiene products to baby toys in hopes of helping the communities damaged by flooding and landslides.
English teacher Emily Ericson is the faculty advisor for the Environmental club and helping to organize the drive.
While it’s a student-led project, Ericson feels a deep personal connection to the cause.
“When I was in fourth grade a tornado completely destroyed my home,” she said. “I still remember the amount of community help.”
Ericson is trying to do the same for the community in and around Asheville. She believes that the drive will continue for at least a couple weeks, but for now she will be taking all the donations to different drop off locations on Friday.
These places will be helping to bring the donations to the people in need with the help of professionals.
“The North Carolina Department of Transportation has declared almost all of the roads impossible, meaning that you can not drive through,”said Ericson.
Many smaller airports in Western NC are allowing air drops, meaning helicopters and airplanes are able to deliver the donated supplies to residents still unreachable by road.
To help these larger organizations collect and deliver supplies, Riverside students can donate supplies to the drop off points around the school building, including room 214 (Ericson’s room), trailer 1 and trailer 7.
There are many lists of needed supplies posted around the school, but some of the most important items include bottled water, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene products, and non-perishable food and can openers.
“It is important to build communities where we are,” Ericson said, “because at the end of the day we are the ones that take care of each other.”
