Hurricane Helene: How to Help
Your family may be looking at the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and wondering how to help. Maybe your children have seen the flooding or heard about the hurricane and have questions. Or kids may be fearful that something like that could happen to them.
It’s always good to remind kids that adults are helping. Assure them that there are systems in place in states and in the federal government to help people. You can share with them that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its staff set up an incident support base at Maxwell Airforce Base in Alabama two days before Hurricane Helene made landfall late last Thursday. They plan ahead! And President Biden announced this week he directed the Defense Department to deploy up to 1,000 active duty soldiers to assist the National Guard in delivering supplies, food, and water to affected areas. So, remind them that our country steps up to help people. Helping people is everyone’s top priority.
And other organizations are always ready to aid victims when emergencies happen. The American Red Cross provides relief for people who were impacted by the wind, heavy rain and flooding of Hurricane Helene.
If you want to give as a family, talk about it with your kids. Maybe you could pick a certain charity to give to. It’s almost always better to donate money than to try to send supplies of some kind. Choose charities that have been vetted. Here is a list of charities that are highly rated by Charity Navigator: charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/where-to-give/hurricane-helene-2024/
Friends, neighbors, strangers and other helpers are also lending a hand to those in need. Many of us may know people that were in the path of the hurricane. I have some friends in Asheville, North Carolina. Fortunately, they did not experience flooding, but they are without water, electricity and cell service.
Here are some charities in North Carolina:
Appalachian Funder’s Network
World Central Kitchen
wck.org/search/tag/north-carolina
Operation Airdrop (Concord, NC)
Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts at operation-airdrop.com/hurricane-helene
Beloved Asheville (Asheville, NC)
belovedasheville.com/get-involved
For more donations to super local, vetted organizations, Blue Ridge Public Radio has put this together:
If your kids have questions about the hurricane and its aftermath, answer honestly and stick to the facts. Give them information that is age appropriate. Listen to them and validate their feelings. Always remind them that people are reaching out to help. Talk to your kids about how those who are suffering loss are talking about how they will move forward with the help of friends, neighbors, the government and organizations.
You can’t protect your kids from bad things. Bad things happen. But focus on what people are doing to get through it. If kids are feeling anxious or sad, listen to them, but also point out that people can and do make it through difficult circumstances. Invite your kids to think about answers to questions. What things will the people affected by the hurricane need to do? What kind of help will they need? Sometimes it may take a long time to recover, but they will do it, step-by-step. Some people might move to a different town or state. Others may stay and clean up or rebuild. We can feel compassion for others, and we can also figure out ways to help them.
