Charlotte Bishop surveys Helene relief efforts in WNC
October 17, 2024 at 11:35 a.m.
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. • As soon as Bishop Michael T. Martin, O.F.M.,Conv., of Charlotte arrived, he hugged Margaret Beale, the principal of Immaculata Catholic School, and Melissa Stuart, the new principal of nearby Asheville Catholic School. Both burst into tears as soon as they saw the Bishop.
“I think broken hearts are crying out,” said Bishop Martin, pausing while handing off items that he and other diocesan staff had brought with them from Charlotte on Oct. 4. They had come to survey the damage from Tropical Storm Helene firsthand and help with aid delivery efforts.
A destroyed car sits amidst debris in front of a damaged home in Barnardsville, N.C, Oct. 2, 2024, that was swept several hundred feet down a creek after the remnants of Hurricane Helene hit the town. OSV News photo/Jonathan Drake, ReutersHelene – which made landfall in Florida late in the evening of Sept. 26 as a Category 4 Hurricane and was downgraded the next day – has been reported to be one of the deadliest storms in the U.S., with more than 215 people confirmed dead. The storm has left a path of devastation across six states, with North Carolina being greatly affected. The scope of the disaster in the Diocese of Charlotte is vast, with more than half of the diocese’s counties declared federal disaster areas.
“The only thing I can do here is to be with people, pray with them, and remind them that Jesus never leaves them,” said Bishop Martin. “They’re tired, they’re worried, and they’re just overwhelmed. Jesus steps into that (situation) all the time. My goal was just to get here and be with people.”
“This has been a difficult experience, not only as a principal but as a mom,” Stuart said. “I’m from Miami, I’ve been through hurricanes. This is different. We’re facing weeks, possibly months without water. How do you prepare for that? How do you run a household for months with no water? We’re overwhelmed with the longevity of this crisis.”
“You don’t think of the mountains of North Carolina as the place where this type of misery takes place,” Bishop Martin said. But the Church is there to give people hope and “remind them that the Holy Spirit is in their midst. Jesus shows us in the midst of devastation, we can begin seeing God’s healing grace.”
A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station crew rescues a man and his dog during Hurricane Helene after his sailboat became disabled and started taking on water off Sanibel Island, Fla., Sept. 26, 2024. OSV News photo/US Coast Guard handout via ReutersSince Sept. 29, when the widespread extent of the damage from Tropical Storm Helene became apparent, truckloads of emergency supplies have been running multiple times each day from Charlotte to Hendersonville and other western North Carolina communities to help residents who are desperate for water, food and other essentials. Catholic Charities and the diocese have provided a majority of the relief items at Immaculata. Other churches and schools are also serving as aid centers.
At Immaculata, Beale and Father David O’Connor, parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, have been organizing the distribution effort since putting out the call for help Sunday morning to diocesan officials.
“Margaret Beale is our hero,” said Immaculate Conception parishioner Terry Fishleigh, who’s been volunteering all week. “She started this at Mass on Sunday. Father announced, ‘If anyone can help, this is what we’re going to do.’ And everybody showed up.
“Not only has the volunteer turnout been amazing, but so has been the answer to prayer,” Fishleigh told The Catholic News Herald, the newspaper of the Diocese of Charlotte. “We’re just watching God’s work going on here. Every time we are running low, someone pulls up with a donation.”
Volunteers, including entire families, are coming in from all over to help in the relief effort, working from 7 in the morning to 7 each night. Immaculata students have also been getting involved, writing notes of comfort and encouragement to hand out with the bottles of water and baby formula, plus handing out rosaries. Many people are taking them even if they’re not Catholic.
Immaculata student Williams Schwartzman has volunteered each day this week – unloading trucks, stocking supplies, and handing items to tearful recipients. “It allows me to help people in a time of need,” said the seventh-grader. “Since I don’t need help, I think it’s best to give to others.”
Sixth-grader Samantha Montano added, “Jesus sacrificed His life; I should pay that back by helping people going through hard times.”
Two lines of cars snaked efficiently through the school’s large parking lot Oct. 4 as volunteers carted out supplies from the school to put in the trunk or the back seat. The operation was running like “a well-oiled machine,” Catholic News Herald reporter Christina Lee Knauss said from the scene.
Residents from surrounding rural areas where large aid trucks can’t reach are among those coming to Immaculata to load supplies into their cars to bring back up the smaller roads.
A section of the Kinser Bridge in Greene County, Tenn., that was washed away when the river swept over its banks because of Helene, is pictured Oct. 4, 2024. The bridge crosses the Nolichucky River. OSV News photo/courtesy The East Tennessee CatholicBrevard resident and Sacred Heart parishioner Frank Scarduzio escaped the worst damage at his house, with just power loss. He was at Immaculata Oct. 4, filling his car with food, wipes and diapers to bring back to people in the towns of Brevard, Rosman and Sapphire. His wife works at Immaculata, and they’ve been making daily supply runs to get donations to where they’re needed most.
“We have a lot of people coming through,” Fishleigh added. “Carloads of people have been coming in saying, ‘I’m going to Asheville, what can you give me,’ ‘I’m going to Swannanoa, what can you give me.’ Everything that gets donated here, we’re dispersing.”
Bishop Martin unloaded supplies into the school gym and moved furniture into hallways to make space for more. He encouraged the volunteers – calling them “rock stars” – and he spoke to residents in the car line, praying over them and asking how they were holding up.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see people from Charlotte come and roll up their sleeves,” Beale said, adding that everyone there at Immaculata was extremely grateful for the outpouring of support.
“I’m very happy to get this water,” said Mickey Mahaffey, who had driven to Immaculata to pick up bottled water for his family. His house has water, but they’ve been advised not to drink it. “One of things I’ve been most impressed about is all of the volunteer help, plus the government has been on the spot. They have sent so much help to us,” he said.
Hendersonville resident Toni Wickersham was also at Immaculata this morning to get a few supplies. She and her elderly mother have running water at their house, but no electricity.
Despite the ongoing tragedy, Wickersham said she’s seen some good coming out of it all.
“Actually, it’s been heartwarming to see the whole community coming together. You see volunteer efforts like this. You see people grilling food out so it doesn’t spoil. You see neighbors cutting and clearing trees for each other,” she said. “Even though we’ve had this terrible flood, it’s been good to see the local community coming together.”
“That’s the beauty of the Church,” Bishop Martin said. People “love the Lord and they love each other, and they want to build the kingdom.”
The Catholic News Herald is the newspaper of the Diocese of Charlotte. Christina Lee Knauss, Amelia Kudela and Liz Chandler co-wrote this story. Jay Siltzer contributed to this story
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HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. • As soon as Bishop Michael T. Martin, O.F.M.,Conv., of Charlotte arrived, he hugged Margaret Beale, the principal of Immaculata Catholic School, and Melissa Stuart, the new principal of nearby Asheville Catholic School. Both burst into tears as soon as they saw the Bishop.
“I think broken hearts are crying out,” said Bishop Martin, pausing while handing off items that he and other diocesan staff had brought with them from Charlotte on Oct. 4. They had come to survey the damage from Tropical Storm Helene firsthand and help with aid delivery efforts.
A destroyed car sits amidst debris in front of a damaged home in Barnardsville, N.C, Oct. 2, 2024, that was swept several hundred feet down a creek after the remnants of Hurricane Helene hit the town. OSV News photo/Jonathan Drake, ReutersHelene – which made landfall in Florida late in the evening of Sept. 26 as a Category 4 Hurricane and was downgraded the next day – has been reported to be one of the deadliest storms in the U.S., with more than 215 people confirmed dead. The storm has left a path of devastation across six states, with North Carolina being greatly affected. The scope of the disaster in the Diocese of Charlotte is vast, with more than half of the diocese’s counties declared federal disaster areas.
“The only thing I can do here is to be with people, pray with them, and remind them that Jesus never leaves them,” said Bishop Martin. “They’re tired, they’re worried, and they’re just overwhelmed. Jesus steps into that (situation) all the time. My goal was just to get here and be with people.”
“This has been a difficult experience, not only as a principal but as a mom,” Stuart said. “I’m from Miami, I’ve been through hurricanes. This is different. We’re facing weeks, possibly months without water. How do you prepare for that? How do you run a household for months with no water? We’re overwhelmed with the longevity of this crisis.”
“You don’t think of the mountains of North Carolina as the place where this type of misery takes place,” Bishop Martin said. But the Church is there to give people hope and “remind them that the Holy Spirit is in their midst. Jesus shows us in the midst of devastation, we can begin seeing God’s healing grace.”
A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station crew rescues a man and his dog during Hurricane Helene after his sailboat became disabled and started taking on water off Sanibel Island, Fla., Sept. 26, 2024. OSV News photo/US Coast Guard handout via ReutersSince Sept. 29, when the widespread extent of the damage from Tropical Storm Helene became apparent, truckloads of emergency supplies have been running multiple times each day from Charlotte to Hendersonville and other western North Carolina communities to help residents who are desperate for water, food and other essentials. Catholic Charities and the diocese have provided a majority of the relief items at Immaculata. Other churches and schools are also serving as aid centers.
At Immaculata, Beale and Father David O’Connor, parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, have been organizing the distribution effort since putting out the call for help Sunday morning to diocesan officials.
“Margaret Beale is our hero,” said Immaculate Conception parishioner Terry Fishleigh, who’s been volunteering all week. “She started this at Mass on Sunday. Father announced, ‘If anyone can help, this is what we’re going to do.’ And everybody showed up.
“Not only has the volunteer turnout been amazing, but so has been the answer to prayer,” Fishleigh told The Catholic News Herald, the newspaper of the Diocese of Charlotte. “We’re just watching God’s work going on here. Every time we are running low, someone pulls up with a donation.”
Volunteers, including entire families, are coming in from all over to help in the relief effort, working from 7 in the morning to 7 each night. Immaculata students have also been getting involved, writing notes of comfort and encouragement to hand out with the bottles of water and baby formula, plus handing out rosaries. Many people are taking them even if they’re not Catholic.
Immaculata student Williams Schwartzman has volunteered each day this week – unloading trucks, stocking supplies, and handing items to tearful recipients. “It allows me to help people in a time of need,” said the seventh-grader. “Since I don’t need help, I think it’s best to give to others.”
Sixth-grader Samantha Montano added, “Jesus sacrificed His life; I should pay that back by helping people going through hard times.”
Two lines of cars snaked efficiently through the school’s large parking lot Oct. 4 as volunteers carted out supplies from the school to put in the trunk or the back seat. The operation was running like “a well-oiled machine,” Catholic News Herald reporter Christina Lee Knauss said from the scene.
Residents from surrounding rural areas where large aid trucks can’t reach are among those coming to Immaculata to load supplies into their cars to bring back up the smaller roads.
A section of the Kinser Bridge in Greene County, Tenn., that was washed away when the river swept over its banks because of Helene, is pictured Oct. 4, 2024. The bridge crosses the Nolichucky River. OSV News photo/courtesy The East Tennessee CatholicBrevard resident and Sacred Heart parishioner Frank Scarduzio escaped the worst damage at his house, with just power loss. He was at Immaculata Oct. 4, filling his car with food, wipes and diapers to bring back to people in the towns of Brevard, Rosman and Sapphire. His wife works at Immaculata, and they’ve been making daily supply runs to get donations to where they’re needed most.
“We have a lot of people coming through,” Fishleigh added. “Carloads of people have been coming in saying, ‘I’m going to Asheville, what can you give me,’ ‘I’m going to Swannanoa, what can you give me.’ Everything that gets donated here, we’re dispersing.”
Bishop Martin unloaded supplies into the school gym and moved furniture into hallways to make space for more. He encouraged the volunteers – calling them “rock stars” – and he spoke to residents in the car line, praying over them and asking how they were holding up.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see people from Charlotte come and roll up their sleeves,” Beale said, adding that everyone there at Immaculata was extremely grateful for the outpouring of support.
“I’m very happy to get this water,” said Mickey Mahaffey, who had driven to Immaculata to pick up bottled water for his family. His house has water, but they’ve been advised not to drink it. “One of things I’ve been most impressed about is all of the volunteer help, plus the government has been on the spot. They have sent so much help to us,” he said.
Hendersonville resident Toni Wickersham was also at Immaculata this morning to get a few supplies. She and her elderly mother have running water at their house, but no electricity.
Despite the ongoing tragedy, Wickersham said she’s seen some good coming out of it all.
“Actually, it’s been heartwarming to see the whole community coming together. You see volunteer efforts like this. You see people grilling food out so it doesn’t spoil. You see neighbors cutting and clearing trees for each other,” she said. “Even though we’ve had this terrible flood, it’s been good to see the local community coming together.”
“That’s the beauty of the Church,” Bishop Martin said. People “love the Lord and they love each other, and they want to build the kingdom.”
The Catholic News Herald is the newspaper of the Diocese of Charlotte. Christina Lee Knauss, Amelia Kudela and Liz Chandler co-wrote this story. Jay Siltzer contributed to this story