Hand in Hand Through Hurricane Helene

In the weeks and months that followed, Alpha Phi members and alumnae engaged in extensive volunteer work, partnering with organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, a global disaster relief organization headquartered in Boone to provide immediate hands-on relief efforts. An alumna in Charlotte organized an Amazon Wishlist, collecting and sorting donations that filled two large U-Haul trucks driven to the mountains. Another alumna volunteered in Lake Lure, near Asheville, at a makeshift general store, transporting and distributing supplies and involving her children in the relief efforts. Her daughter and a friend even raised over $500 for Samaritan’s Purse and the Blue Ridge Relief Fund by selling bracelets with the names of mountain towns.

Months later, some communities are still without basic necessities like grocery stores. The Foundation’s Forget Me Not Grant was instrumental, with many applications submitted on behalf of sisters who were unable to apply themselves or were hesitant to ask for help. The influx of donations to the Forget Me Not fund following Hurricane Helene and the California wildfires underscored the significance of our sisterhood and the desire to fulfill our commitment to generosity. The Alpha Phi sisterhood continues to stand by everyone affected, demonstrating incredible strength and a commitment to restoring their lives together.

To make a gift to the Forget Me Not Fund and help Alpha Phis in times of crisis, please click here.

When Lifelong Friends Become Lifelines in Times of Disaster

We live in the Asheville area of North Carolina. We were pretty prepared before the storm hit, but nothing could have prepared us for what actually came and happened afterwards. A lot of it still feels like a really bad dream. We have two young children and on the day that the storm hit, we all woke up early and without power in our home. Our kids were terrified of the intense wind outside – wind like I have never experienced before – and the possibility of trees falling on our house. We also discovered some areas where water was entering our home as the wind blew the rain in all directions. We did our best to put on brave faces while distracting the kids with games and trying to mitigate the water damage to our home.

Our neighborhood backs up to the French Broad River and it has never flooded before, so no one expected it to ever actually happen. Once things calmed down outside, we went to drive around our neighborhood to check on friends and neighbors to assess the damage. As we were checking on another family, water appeared out of nowhere and began to quickly move down the street towards their house. We frantically helped them grab what they needed, move what we could up to the second story of their home, and evacuated them to our house. In less than an hour, we were in complete shock and were walking through knee deep flood water to get out of their street. During all of this, we did not have any power, cell phone service, access to food/gas/groceries, and our water was not safe to drink or use because the water system was so severely damaged. Every exit from our neighborhood was initially blocked with downed trees, downed power lines, and flooded roads. Everything was closed and cancelled for the foreseeable future so once we were able to get out and felt that it was safe to do so, we evacuated to my parents’ house in South Carolina. This was also stressful because we did not know if our route was clear and safe or if we could even get gas or food along the way.

Once we were safely at my parents’ house, we finally had cell service again. This is when we began to actually see from the news and social media how widespread and severe the damage from the storm was to all of WNC. We began to grieve for everyone in the storm’s path and for the loss of so many of our favorite places that sustained severe damage or were washed away completely. The outpouring of support from friends and family near and far was incredible. Sisters from Alpha Phi who I have not seen or communicated with in a long time reached out to make sure we were safe and to see what they could do to help. Sisters were helping get supplies to people in need and were volunteering with clean-up and whatever else was needed. A wonderful sister from my chapter, Megan Maloney, reached out and told me that she wanted to request a Forget Me Not Grant for me. During a time when I was unable to even identify what I actually needed, it meant the world to me that Megan thought of me in this way and that Alpha Phi was willing to provide me with this gift. Receiving this grant was very helpful in so many ways. We ended up living at my parents’ house in SC for a few weeks. However, we were having to make frequent trips back up the mountain during this time to address the damage to our home, for my husband to work as much as he could, and to bring supplies to our friends and neighbors who were unable to evacuate. During a time of complete uncertainty and so much heartache, the Forget Me Not Grant helped relieve some of the financial burden, so that we could focus on helping our community and fix our house as quickly as possible. Our community will be recovering and rebuilding from this storm for a very long time, but this experience has really shown me how Alpha Phi truly does provide lifelong friendships and community!

Jackie Kilgore (Theta Nu-Appalachian State)