Three months after Hurricane Helene, Mercy Chefs is in western North Carolina to provide additional relief including providing storm victims with hot meals during the holiday season.
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00:00Three months now after Hurricane Helene forever changed the lives,
00:03the need for help is still great, especially in Western North Carolina.
00:07Yeah, and Mercy Chefs is continuing to provide outreach during the holidays.
00:12Gary LeBlanc is founder and CEO of Mercy Chefs.
00:15Thank you so much again, Gary, for joining us this morning
00:19and taking some time out of what I know is probably a busy, busy week.
00:24It's going to be a time for us, but we're glad to be with you.
00:27Thanks for having us on.
00:29Well, of course, last Thursday, Mercy Chefs held an event in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
00:34What did you find there with kids and family in place?
00:38We found so many people that are just grateful that they have been remembered,
00:43that they haven't been forgotten. The children there at the school,
00:47we were able to serve gifts that were made in Panama City, Florida,
00:52by children that were affected by Michael six years ago.
00:55Those kids wanted to do something special.
00:58So they made Christmas for 530 children there in Black Mountain,
01:02sent it up. We did some meals and some snacks for the kids.
01:06And it's good to see them with their spirits high.
01:09But many of them talked about living in hotels
01:13and the difficulty that their parents were facing.
01:16You know, children always wonder what goes through a child's mind in a disaster.
01:21Their eyes are haunting.
01:23Yeah, such a sad scene, but you know, a lot of those stories,
01:27so beautiful and heartwarming to hear.
01:29Mercy Chefs is still a presence in Western North Carolina.
01:33Can you tell us more about how your teams are still distributing meals
01:37and more? You mentioned that the need is still there.
01:41It's absolutely still there.
01:43Asheville has recovered pretty well after two months without potable water.
01:48They were able to get that back working.
01:51That was a huge step forward for them.
01:53So we're seeing some life come back into Asheville.
01:57But the surrounding communities are still struggling.
02:00The folks up the riverbeds, up in the mountains,
02:04they still have a very difficult road in front of them.
02:08That's why Mercy Chefs, who's been on the ground every day
02:11since the storm came in and has made a commitment to stay into the summer,
02:17we're going to continue to stand with the folks there in Western North Carolina
02:21and do everything we can to get them back to some sense of normalcy.
02:26And into the new year, what are you planning for
02:29with the greatest needs for these communities?
02:30And also, how can people help?
02:33Well, we're going to be working to do some community classes,
02:37bring the communities into our kitchens, do some children baking schools.
02:43But again, daily feeding between 1,000 and 4,000 meals.
02:47Whatever need we find, we're going to continue to feed hot meals.
02:51Right now, we're feeding the elder care facility
02:54and the veterans that lost their entire facility.
02:57We're making sure that they get beautiful chef-prepared meals every day.
03:02Mercy Chefs is just, our hearts are broken
03:06and turned toward the people there in Western North Carolina.
03:09Anybody that wants to find out what we're doing can go to Mercy Chefs.
03:13They can follow us in real time and they can partner with us.
03:17It's going to be a long haul there in that area.
03:21Yes, we are blessed to have people like you and your organization there on the ground.
03:27Gary LeBlanc is founder and CEO of Mercy Chefs.
03:30Thank you so much again for joining us this morning.
03:33My pleasure. Merry Christmas.