Thanks to our amazing donors, our Hurricane Helene Relief Fund raised over $25,000 to support families in North Carolina. We can’t thank you all enough for all your support during this critical time of need.
As the counties where we work start their recovery process, our Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube, has been receiving updates from our volunteer coordinators on the ground to help us understand how we can best help children in our sponsorship program. We will continue to update you all as our coordinators let us know how your donations have helped families rebuild in the upcoming weeks and months.
“We are very grateful that three of our four affiliated counties are making substantial recoveries at this time.”
An upDATE from Renée
“At this time, we are very pleased to report that our affiliated sites in both Alleghany County and Swain County were mostly spared damage. All Alleghany and Swain County Schools are back in session. Power has been restored to all customers in the area. Our Watauga County Schools will be closed through October 18th and then reevaluated. All but 20 customers have had power restored.”
Along with information about the damage, our volunteer coordinators sent photos of cleanup efforts being made in their communities.
“The roads in Watauga County are another matter. The county administrators are working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and will determine when it is safe to put buses on the roads. However, alternate arrangements are still being made for Valle Crucis Elementary School, whose building was badly flooded during the hurricane. A replacement building was already being constructed but is not expected to be completed until spring 2025.”
“Mitchell County Schools are still not in session; just 31.9% of customers have restored power as this county was hit harder by the hurricane than the others in which we work. Due to the more extensive damage occurring in Mitchell County, our relief efforts will be focused here. However, we fully anticipate our Watauga County coordinators submitting some funding requests, which we will also be prepared to support.”
“We are very grateful that three of our four affiliated counties are making substantial recoveries at this time. We will update our sponsors and donors as we hear more from our volunteer coordinators about how your donations are helping families during this critical time of recovery.”
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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?
You can sponsor a child in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal, create an account, and search for a child that is available for sponsorship.