Hurricane Repairs and Ways to Help Western North Carolina

We have been overwhelmed by the amount of love and support our camp community has shown in the last few weeks since Hurricane Helene hit our area, both to us at Greystone and to the entire Western North Carolina community! Thank you for your prayers, your messages, and your willingness to volunteer your time and resources as we start the recovery process.

We have been praying for all our camp families who were impacted by Helene and now Hurricane Milton as well. If we can do anything to help you or your family, please let us know!

We are grateful to have power, water, and internet restored now at camp, and we wanted to share an update on what cleanup has looked like for us, and how you can support our area in the weeks and months ahead.

Many hands make light work, and we have been so grateful to have a lot of help as we’ve started cleaning up the camp property. Our year-round teams have worked tirelessly over the last couple of weeks, and we’ve been joined by some wonderful neighbors and friends! Here’s a few of the projects we’ve been working on:

• Farm Barn: this area was hit the hardest, and we have been doing lots (and LOTS!) of mud removal. The swinging bridge and the big Farm Barn bridge needed a lot of TLC, along with the inside of the barn and all of our tack. Elizabeth and Devan are champs! ⁠
• Main Campus: this area needed debris removal, including all the produce and plants that washed ashore from our neighbor’s farm stand. Our beloved Shepherd’s Gazebo stage had to be dismantled and removed, making way for a brand new stage coming next summer! ⁠
• Office: the Lower Office flooded when the water was at its highest and needed a lot of cleaning-out and reorganizing. Nothing like a flood to force you to declutter!
• Drainage and Roads: the “behind the scenes” part of camp has needed a lot of work! Our Maintenance crew has repaired roads, dug out drains, and cleared the way to allow drainage of all the accumulated water. Caleb and Ben even built a dam out of the old build slide - that’s what we call resourceful! ⁠

In the midst of it all, we’ve made a focused effort to help out our neighbors and the broader WNC area whose recovery is going to take much longer than ours. We’ve contributed supplies, donated food, loaned out our space, and volunteered to use what we have to be a blessing.

There are so many incredible organizations on-the-ground here, working hard to bring relief to Asheville and the surrounding areas. Many of you have asked for recommendations for where to send your donations, and here are a few you could consider supporting. We have personally seen the impact these groups are making!

• Samaritan’s Purse: they are currently delivering necessities and helping with tree work and mud and debris removal from homes in Boone, Asheville, Black Mountain, Montreat, Swannanoa, and Burnsville.
• Manna Foodbank: this local food bank is currently working to meet emergency food needs. Manna works with over 250 nonprofit partners to reach individual communities throughout WNC.
• Cajun Navy: this volunteer organization from South Louisiana is on the ground here to help with immediate rescue and relief.
• World Central Kitchen: they are currently working throughout North Carolina to provide free hot meals to those who need them.
• City Church: we have lots of connections with this wonderful Asheville church, including Kristi James (summer 2024 staff member), whose husband, Duff, serves as the pastor. They are distributing water, food, and other supplies to the Asheville community.

Looking for more? Blue Ridge Public Radio compiled a great list of local, hands-on-the-ground organizations that need support.

Whether you are able to contribute your dollars, your time, or your prayers, we are grateful for your love of Greystone and care for our neighboring communities. Our camp community is far-reaching, and together, we can have a huge impact!