Wallace supplies farm help, Thanksgiving meals to western NC

The mountains continue to call to a group of River Landing and Wallace residents, who have made numerous trips to western North Carolina in the weeks since Tropical Storm Helene devastated the region. Emily Ludlum, Melissa Stevens, Jennifer Johnson and their families and neighbors have been collecting donations and supplies since the storm hit on Sept. 30.

Most recently, the group traveled to the small town of Minneapolis to deliver Thanksgiving meals and to help one family farm repair more than four miles of fencing.

“This is the worst area I’ve seen so far,” Ludlum told Duplin Journal. “It is a pretty low-income area, so people didn’t have much to start with, and the storm has just devastated the people there.”

One such family devastated by the storm is that of Rachel and Brandon Townsend, who happen to be third-generation cattle farmers.

“In talking to Rachel, their biggest need was fencing,” Ludlum said. “She specifically said they needed barbed wire and T-posts.”

Ludlum committed to help the Townsends’ farm by providing the wire and T-posts, but unfortunately, what was needed came to a cost of $13,000. “We couldn’t do that, so we committed to buying 500 T-posts and that was a little more manageable,” Ludlum said. “We put a group together and worked the weekend to help repair what fencing we could.”

That involved cutting down and chopping up trees along the way amidst some of the worst damage the team has seen so far.

“The pastures they have are now covered with river rock and mud,” Ludlum explained. “It’s just changed the landscape. One pasture now has a 10-foot-deep pond that’s about 50 feet wide. And then, the trees are hardwoods so they’re difficult to cut down and move.”

The Townsends gained back one field from the work the group was able to do over the weekend. They also helped the family purchase hay to feed the cows. “Because the pasture is covered with river rock and mud, the cows can’t eat,” Ludlum said, “so they’re having to feed them hay earlier than they normally would.”

And speaking of food, delivering Thanksgiving meals was the other portion of this past weekend’s trip.

“Our hometown church, Wallace Presbyterian, graced us with a large amount of money to do with what we needed,” Ludlum said. “I know when our houses flooded [in Hurricane Florence in 2018], it was right at the holidays. So we wanted to help a few families be able to have a Thanksgiving meal this year.”

Ludlum said the Wallace Piggly Wiggly worked to get everything ordered, including 55 turkeys, casseroles, desserts and fixings.

“We delivered door-to-door,” she said. “The people gave us so much love and appreciation. Any little bit you offer, they are so grateful.”

Minneapolis is full of houses that have been moved off their foundations and even split in two from mudslides. “We couldn’t get there on our first trip because it is so remote and it was so heavily damaged,” Ludlum said. “I know I probably say this every time, but this one was a hard one.”

Next up for the group — setting up a toy shop in Black Mountain and Swannanoa. Ludlum said they’re working with social workers at three schools in that area to identify the children who are most in need of a happy Christmas.

They are currently accepting donations of toys, wrapping paper, bows and tape, at the Wallace Fire Department or Duplin Journal office.

“We are really trying to ensure a Christmas for these kids,” Ludlum said.

Though the need is still great in western NC, Ludlum said the areas she and her team have served are all well-stocked on supplies.

“What they need is muscle, tradesmen, people to cook hot meals, people to work in the distribution centers, and they need money,” she said.