NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Hurricane Florence has impacted the Cape Fear region in many ways. Including leaving many people in need of hot meals, as power outtages and storm damage has caused a lack of resources at local grocery stores.
That’s why Rebecca Trammell decided to step up, and after evacuating to Raleigh maintained contact with several leaders in the Wilmington community, including those in th faith-based communities.
“People don’t care how much you say you care until they know how much you care. And that’s through action,” said Robert Campbell, the pastor of New Beginnings Christian Church.
“The resources are available, but in many cases, people don’t have the transportation. Or they have the transportation, but they don’t have the gas to get there. And they may not know that the resources are available,” said Campbell.
There are now six sites for residents to get hot meals, non-perishables and other supplies. People in the lower income communities feel unnoticed, and people like Jasmine O’Neil and her daughter were impacted by the storm.
“When the power did finally come on, the first grocery store to open up was Harris Teeter. We stood in for an hour in the rain and come to find out they weren’t accepting EBT,” said O’Neil. “They were only accepting major credit cards and cash. You couldn’t even use your debit card. So that was a big strain on us because that was all I had.”
The World Central Kitchen has joined forces with Diamond Food Enterprises, prepping 200,000 meals just in the last week. Meals to make sure no person goes unfed.
Not only have they provided to the six faith sites, but they supply meals for dozens in the region. They also have food trucks making stops in countless communities. One is Catch Food Truck where Chef Keith Rhodes has served more than 500 meals in the past few days.
“In some cases, even though we’ve set up distribution sites, people don’t know that those sites are available. And information travels slowly,” said Campbell.
Campbell’s church will go door to door in their Castle Hayne community to give out meals and supplies this weekend. Each one of these organizations says they will not stop until they cannot make any more meals.
You can search World Central Kitchen on Facebook to find a site near you.
Here are the six additional sites you can visit:
Northside – Dreams Center (901 Fanning St.)
Eastside – Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church (2929 Princess Place)
Southside 1 – St. Luke AME (709 Church St.)
Southside 2 – Lake Forest Baptist Church (1626 Lake Branch Dr.)
Castle Hayne/Wrightsboro – New Beginnings Christian Church (3120 Alex Trask Dr.)
Hispanic community – Christ Community Church (4555 Fairview Dr.)