Mercy Chefs providing meals for Hurricane Helene victims

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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.

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