MADAWASKA, Maine — An Aroostook County woman loaded up her two boys and dogs along with a bus full of supplies in late October and traveled over 1,300 miles from Madawaska to Brevard, North Carolina, to help people affected by Hurricane Helene.
Now Taylor Czipoth is back home in Madawaska and wants others to know what taking part in a national relief effort means to those in need.
Hurricane Helene came ashore on Florida’s gulf coast on Sept. 24 with category 4 winds, but its torrential rain flooded the southern Appalachian Mountains for several days washing out roads and devastating homes and businesses.
Czipoth said she had wanted to help with disaster relief since South Carolina was hit with a hurricane about 10 years ago. She made plans to help at the time, but was unable to go due to car issues.
“For the past 10 years, that’s really bothered me that I didn’t get to volunteer and help with anything,” Czipoth said.
She said she was surprised to see such an overwhelming volunteer effort in such a small community. Brevard, a small city with a population of just under 8,000, is roughly the same size as the Aroostook County city of Caribou.
Before leaving, Czipoth said she did not have a particular plan aside from traveling to the affected area and helping however many people she could. A friend from Van Buren with connections in the area gave Czipoth some contact information for people associated with a church in the area and suggested that Czipoth reach out to them.
“I got in contact with some people from the church,” she said. “They were answering me late at night, and they took me in from day one and let me stay there.”
The Anchor Baptist Church is located in Pisgah Forest, an unincorporated community on the outskirts of Brevard. The church, which Czipoth said is about the size of the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Madawaska, has a warehouse for food distribution.
“I ended up there,” she said. “They took all my stuff for me, and they allowed me to park my bus there and sleep on the property, which was great.”
Czipoth said she was immediately surprised by the intensity of the volunteer effort. Dozens of volunteers would be in the warehouse while about half a dozen operated forklifts to move items for people in need. She said there were easily about 50 volunteers doing something every day.
“Colleges were coming in with their sports teams,” she said. “The baseball team from a local college came in for the day and volunteered their time.”
The site became a hub for volunteers not just in North Carolina but from all over the country. Czipoth said she heard of a man who drove to the warehouse with his own 18-wheeler.
“He was coming from the west coast and just driving through the country, across to North Carolina, and picking up things across the country until he landed in North Carolina,” she said. “I didn’t get to meet him before I arrived, but I just couldn’t believe he was doing that.”
Much of Czipoth’s time was spent helping to sort materials in the warehouse for those in need. She also delivered materials to the family members of her friend Jessica Blalock, who is Madawaska’s chamber of commerce director.
“The response efforts from people all around the country have been heartwarming,” Blalock said in October just before Czipoth left. “Appalachia is a special place and very near and dear to my heart. It’s going to take a very long time to recover, but Appalachian people are strong, and I know they will overcome.”
Blalock said she lost contact with her sister for over 24 hours as cell phone towers were downed due to the hurricane and said she felt helpless being so far away from her sister, brother-in-law, nephews and niece. She later learned that their home did not flood and that her relatives were safe.
“I gave [Jessica’s] sister some things, some water, some coke, and I brought some toys because there were neighborhood children,” Czipoth said
She also saw overwhelming support back in Madawaska. Before traveling to North Carolina, she received over $5,000 worth of materials and money from various local organizations. She said she easily received a couple thousand dollars worth of donations alone from Jenna’s Helping Hands, a Frenchville thrift store.
Czipoth also received donations and items from Madawaska-based Gotta Coffee. Sophia Gordon of Presque Isle, who was recently crowned Miss Aroostook, also set up a donation point to help Czipoth. Owners of two Van Buren businesses, York’s Kitchen and the Hungry Moose Pub, also helped Czipoth find connections in the area.
And about half a dozen local residents gave her food to take on the trip.
Czipoth traveled in a short school bus she purchased earlier this year with her two boys, who she home schools.
She said she brought her boys with her to teach them more about the world.
“They were really hands-on,” she said. “And it was great to expose them to things like that. They really enjoyed their time.”
She said several people were surprised that she traveled from Madawaska.
“They just couldn’t believe it was so far away,” she said, “and that someone had come from so far away with such a large amount of stuff. But it was almost not shocking to them, because people were coming from every possible state. So it was kind of like, the distance was surprising, but the fact that I came from another state wasn’t, because everyone was.”
Anyone interested in helping with the recovery effort can donate to the state’s North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund, which is managed by the United Way of North Carolina. Donations to the North Carolina Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADS) will help volunteer and faith-based groups address urgent needs. And The Red Cross website also contains resources for those interested in donating or volunteering to help.
Czipoth said that, without a doubt, she would want to do more of this work in the future and that it felt great to be a part of such a large effort.
“It really makes me want to do more of this,” she said, “and to see how there is still a sense of community out there, despite where the world is right now.”
