Anasofia Salinas helps gather items for community members. Photo credits: Watauga Yearbook.
Carrie Bradbury, Staff Writer to The Powderhorn
As people from the community entered the Watauga High School aux gym, they were met with kind, patient, and helpful volunteers. Less than a week after Hurricane Helene hit Watauga County and its surrounding areas, staff and community partners set up a resource center which provided people with needed supplies including water, food, toiletries, and baby products.
While there were many people in the community in need of assistance, those who had little to no damage on their property stepped up to volunteer throughout the area.
Charlie Stumb, junior, spoke on his experience during the hurricane and how he dedicated his time to volunteering.
"I often went to the distribution site,” said Stumb. “That was my entire day. Eight to five, I was just at the distribution site, so I didn't actually have a lot of free time.”
While working at the center, Stumb closely interacted with community members and quickly understood what people needed the most right after the hurricane hit.
“We had gasoline tanks and diapers, those went super fast, as well as food that didn't need to be heated," said Stumb. ¨A lot of people didn't have electricity or means to heat up food, so that went quickly.”
Although food and water were the most sought-after supplies, Stumb was surprised some other items, like towels and blankets, weren’t as highly in demand.
Working alongside Stumb, junior Sydney Moretz got a closer look at what went into planning and organizing the distribution center.
“We'd have people who were going out and getting the stuff,” Moretz explained. “Some people were organizing tables, and others were helping people walk around, get their things, and hold their baskets and buckets.”
Moretz was shocked at how quickly the students switched gears, from managing their own personal losses to offering support to others in need.
“What I'm going to take away is seeing how amazing it is when everyone can come together and do something in such a turnaround time,” Moretz said. “It was great to see everyone working together.”
Sergeant Major (SgtMaj) Lisowski, who worked first-hand with the volunteers and community members at the center, was also impressed by how quickly everyone came together.
“I think what was the most impressive was the unified effort from the administration setting things up very quickly, having policies and procedures in place, and then ultimately being able to hand that off to other staff members,” said Lisowski.
Having a background in JROTC and community service, SgtMaj Lisowski immediately recognized the remarkable initiative and dedication of the volunteer staff.
“What impressed me the most about the student input is how little direction and guidance they [volunteers] actually needed,” said Lisowski. “They were able to understand what the school's goal was—to provide community-level support to individuals that came in— and they took action so they didn't really need to be reminded that they were there to do work or service.”
In addition to collaborating with student volunteers, SgtMaj Lisowski also worked closely with the National Guard, which came to offer support to the high school.
“The National Guard has to work through the things that are potentially troubling their family and their lives, and put that on pause while they go help additional people,” said Lisowski. “I learned kind of a new respect for the way that they have to compartmentalize the things that they're doing and their mission, and how they can achieve their mission.”
Many members of the National Guard assist with natural disaster relief in other regions, but those helping at the high school were also impacted by Hurricane Helene. This led to closer connections between volunteers and community members.
“I wanted to be a part of that,” said Lisowski. “I liked to be a part of an organizational group that people are focused on and achieved the results that they set out to.”
Among the many high school and middle school teachers working at the relief center, one teacher stood out for her niche role. Mrs. Savannah Wilson worked tirelessly as a translator for the Spanish-speaking families.
“These are the people that I see on a daily basis, so I wanted to try to help those families as much as I could,” Wilson said.
Wilson wanted to make sure all the people who came to the school felt welcome, even if there was a language barrier. She was able to help many families find needed supplies Helping Hands at Watauga High School Relief Center Distribute Kindness and Careand encouraged Watauga students to speak Spanish as well. She believes the best way for Spanish learners to become fluent and confident is by talking with fluent speakers.
“I think that was helpful because we even had some of our Spanish 4 students who were there speaking Spanish and translating for families, which was really cool,” said Wilson.
The variety of people who visited and volunteered at Watauga High School helped strengthen the community. While there was lots of work done at the distribution center, other groups in the county and nearby areas were also working towards the shared goal of supporting one another.
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