The call for help came from Georgia last Friday. Less than a week later, a tractor trailer full of supplies was headed south from the Vineyard to states reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
Although the Category 4 storm made landfall on Sept. 26 more than 1,000 miles south of the Vineyard, the Island community has rallied to help. In the days since the storm, Islanders have collected toilet paper, non-perishable food, water and other supplies to send to Ben Ferry, who was born and raised on the Vineyard and now lives in South Carolina, near the border of Georgia.
Other Vineyarders have held fundraisers and supply drives to help the south get back on its feet after Helene caused catastrophic flood and wind damage throughout Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia.
Mr. Ferry put out a call to fellow veterans asking for supplies to distribute to his community.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and I’ve been to some very unfortunate places in my time as a Marine Corps,” Mr. Ferry told the Gazette in a phone interview on Monday, when describing the devastation.
Mr. Ferry and his friends have been helping neighbors and community members during the aftermath of Helene in any way they can, including clearing trees off houses, yards and along Route 378 which connects McCormick, S.C., where Mr. Ferry lives, and Lincolnton, Ga.
“We didn’t really see emergency vehicles for three days. It was local people going around. As we went from tree to tree, we picked up more momentum and more people,” Mr. Ferry said. “It’s very similar to how the Vineyard is when something happens, the community comes together.”
Kim Murphy saw Mr. Ferry’s call for help, and organized a supply drive at the American Legion Hall in Vineyard Haven with Maria Ventura. The drive, held Sunday, drew a large group of volunteers to help collect the many donations.
The aid was essential, according to Mr. Ferry.
“People here need food. They’re starving. The next three weeks are going to be absolutely critical for so many people,” he said. “State assistance, government assistance, it’s going to take a while. Let’s be honest, government assistance isn’t speedy . . . We are going to take these supplies and hand it to people American to American, community member to community member.”
Mr. Ferry said he also hopes to start helping people in harder to reach areas, where in some cases homes have been completely destroyed by flooding.
“We can break [donations] down and get it to smaller areas that aren’t getting aid because they don’t have the flashy pictures,” he said.
Mr. Ferry added that he hopes to get the clothes to North Carolina and Tennessee, where people have lost their entire homes.
On Sunday at the American Legion Hall, Ezrah Brown packed boxes and carried bags of supplies into the legion hall alongside other volunteers. He has been stationed on Island with the U.S. Coast Guard for three years, and hails from North Carolina.
“There’s people back home who don’t have homes to go back to because the storm took them out,” he said. “They don’t have insurance to pay for a new home. I’m here to help my people back home.”
Aid efforts are also underway at Merry Farm Pottery in West Tisbury. Micah Thanhauser, a potter who was born and raised on the Island, held a fundraiser this weekend to raise money for Craft Emergency Relief Fund, an organization dedicated to providing disaster relief for craft artists. He raised over $3,000.
“There are so many good places to put money, but because this is a craft-specific fundraiser, I thought it would be fitting,” said Mr. Thanhauser, who lived in Asheville for three years while working as a potter’s apprentice. “It is a significant place for people all over the country as a center of craft, especially pottery.”
By Wednesday morning, the South Carolina-bound tractor trailer had pulled into the Legion Hall parking lot. Volunteers sorted the donations by type in the parking lot and loaded them into the trailer.
On Thursday, the truck had left the Island and was expected to make it to South Carolina by Friday morning.
Several of those helping ferry items from the legion hall found out about the project through social media, including Tom Smith.
“People are in need,” Mr. Smith said. “That’s kind of the Vineyard way.”
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