How you can help
Donate blood
Blood Assurance is in need of blood, platelet and plasma donors. Donations can be given at:
– Downtown Chattanooga, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.: 705 E. 4th St.
– East Brainerd, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: 1748 Gunbarrel Road
– Hixson, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: 1920 Northpoint Blvd., Suite 122
– Fort Oglethorpe, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.: 3811 Battlefield Parkway
– Cleveland, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.: 201 Keith St. SW, Suite 19
– Dalton, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.: 785 Shugart Road, Suite 5
Chattanooga
Asheville Dispensary is collecting donations through Friday, including water, baby supplies, hygiene supplies, food, clothes, blankets and towels at its store, 202 Manufacturers Road.
Gearhead Outfitters (formerly Rock/Creek) is collecting donations of water jugs, iodine tablets, non-perishable food, clothing, fuel, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits, sanitation and personal hygiene items, and blankets, sleeping bags and tents at Chattanooga area locations.
YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga is collecting donations of bottled water, flashlights, AA batteries and portable phone chargers from Monday-Wednesday at the Downtown, Hamilton, North River and Cleveland Family locations. For more information visit ymcachattanooga.org/news/flooding-relief-supplies-drive.
Hixson
– Operation Good Neighbor is collecting donations from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, at Food City, 5604 Hixson Pike.
Signal Mountain
– Signal Mountain resident Kelly Treadgill and sister Laura Armstrong, of Asheville, North Carolina, are collecting donations Monday at 4 Windy Way, Signal Mountain, and monetary donations via Venmo at @LEArmstrong. Supplies needed include an enclosed trailer, baby formula, water and peanut-free/allergy-friendly food.
Soddy-Daisy
– The Soddy-Daisy Firefighters Association is collecting money (cash or checks), water, drinks, toiletries and nonperishable food at Fire Hall #1, 10116 Card Road or at Skillern Elementary at Ivy Academy at 8520 Dayton Pike.
North Georgia
– Operation Good Neighbor is collecting donations from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Food City, 150 U.S. 41 (Ringgold Road).
Cleveland
– Mix 104.1 ESPN is collecting donations with Operation Compassion from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at Life Care Centers of America, 3570 Keith St. NW. A list of supplies needed and a link to donate money can be found mymix1041.com/hurricane-helene-relief.
– Operation Good Neighbor is collecting donations from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Food City, 255 Ocoee Crossing NW.
Collegedale
Collegedale Academy is working to coordinate a student mission trip, likely in mid- to late October, to assist with cleanup efforts, according to a news release. Several adult volunteers and 12 to 15 students are expected to participate.
The school will be collecting donations from students and their families this week, according to the release. Items such as water, diapers, toiletry supplies and monetary contributions are being accepted to support the ongoing relief efforts.
On Monday, students helped load a first round of donated supplies onto a trailer that will leave for the Asheville area Tuesday.
Donate money
– The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board is collecting donations online for disaster victims in East Tennessee.
– Joshua Kapellusch, a Chattanooga- area veteran and chaplain of VFW Post 4848, is raising money on GoFundMe to cover fuel, supplies, manpower and other resources as Kapellusch searches for people trapped in Northeast Tennessee and provides short-term resources.
– BeLoved Asheville, a community organization providing relief to disaster victims, is accepting donations online and by Venmo, Zelle or CashApp.
– Catholic Charities of East Tennessee is collecting donations on its website at ccetn.org/donate.
– Chattanoogan Kasha McMahan is collecting donations through the American Red Cross for western North Carolina relief.
– All Food City locations are taking monetary donations for disaster relief funds at checkout through Oct. 12.
Laura Armstrong made her way out of a flooded Asheville, North Carolina, only with the help of step-by-step directions sent through spotty service by her sister in Signal Mountain as she prowled online forums for signs of open routes.
“It was amazing,” Armstrong said by phone. “I didn’t think we would make it.”
After flooding from Hurricane Helene tore through parts of the South and left many areas without power and without access to food, water or gasoline, Armstrong and others in the Chattanooga area are finding tangible ways to help.
Armstrong said she knows neighbors in Asheville who are running out of water, baby formula or food for their children with sensitivities. In some parts of the city, people are blocked from getting downtown where aid is being distributed, or they may not have enough gas to get to relief stations, she said.
Some parts of Asheville don’t expect power to come back until next week and project they’ll be without water for another three to four weeks, she said.
“I got friends drinking stream water from their backyard,” she said.
Now, Armstrong and a friend who evacuated with her are planning to head back to Asheville on Tuesday, loaded with donated supplies.
They secured one open trailer already, but are looking for another, preferably closed, to double the amount they can bring back, Armstrong said.
In addition to food and water, personal hygiene items like body wipes, period products and toilet paper, as well as cleaning supplies, are needed in the area, Armstrong said.
(READ MORE: Supplies rushed to communities isolated by Helene as death toll rises to nearly 100)
“Everything is really dirty,” Armstrong said, “and that’s what you’re living in and eating off of.”
If you plan to donate canned food, bring a manual can opener or opt for cans with a pop-top, Armstrong said.
Joshua Kapellusch, a Chattanooga-area veteran and chaplain of VFW Post 4848, headed northwest on his motorcycle after the storm to help locate people and clear paths and roads.
In Boone, North Carolina, Kapellusch joined other volunteers at Alliance Bible Fellowship, serving as the base for Samaritan’s Purse relief efforts, he said. Much of the work is cutting felled trees and finding alternate routes where people are blocked in, he said, but volunteers are also comforting victims and letting them know they’ll be taken care of.
“You can see houses got washed down the river, debris floating now in the lake,” Kapellusch said by phone. “Some places we go to help folks, there’s no houses left. It’s hard to imagine what was there.”
Kapellusch said he plans to return to Chattanooga on Friday to collect supplies and regroup before heading back to the disaster area.
Chattanooga firefighters were dispatched to Newport and Unicoi in Northeast Tennessee over the weekend to assist with evacuations and rescues, according to a release from the department. A Chattanooga operations chief is also working to coordinate the response with a state incident management team in Unicoi, the release said.
“They all have little to no sleep, but they are focused on saving lives alongside other agencies,” department spokesperson Lindsey Rogers said in the release.
Teams from Signal Mountain, Dunlap, Sequatchie County and Jasper, as well as a Chattanooga/Hamilton County hazmat team, were also deployed to Unicoi County, according to a social media post from the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association.
Firefighters from Catoosa County headed south to Coffee County, Georgia, where tornadoes spawned by the hurricane damaged buildings and infrastructure, the county said in a news release.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.