Ms. Sarah Eddy joined the Atlantic Collegiate Academy staff this year as a Math teacher after most recently teaching at Asheville Christian Academy in Swannanoa, NC. Below is her story of helping the people in her former community after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
 

Hurricane Helene went through Western North Carolina on the night of Thursday, September 26, with high winds blowing down trees and those trees knocking down power lines. Our friends in NC, Amy and Shawn Winchester, told us the wind was like a noise they had never heard before with the trees creaking and splintering. They lost power in the early morning hours. 
 
When the sun came up, they found a large tree had fallen on Shawn's work van, flattening the top and making the van unusable. They did not have electricity or internet and were able to get just one of their cars out of the garage later in the day. They drove around to see how their neighbors and friends were doing and found many were trapped in their homes by downed trees and live power lines downed on the road.
 
Then the water started coming over the banks of the smaller creeks. The area where we lived got about 17 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. We invited our friends to drive down to Myrtle Beach to stay with us until their power came back on.
 
Before they left Hendersonville, the Winchesters packed coolers full of the meat from their freezer and took the meat that wouldn't fit around to their neighbors. They drove to the border of NC and SC to spend the night with relatives. After a shower and a good night's sleep, they decided they couldn't leave their neighbors and enjoy the comfort of our home, so they gathered all the fuel and food they could put in their car and drove back.
 
We knew they were right in returning, and I wondered if Atlantic Collegiate Academy could help the families there who are suffering.
 
I emailed Mike Lorenz, the Principal of ACA, on Sunday afternoon and told him about the devastation in Western NC.  I knew ACA's students have required service hours and asked Principal Lorenz if ACA would allow the student body to start bringing in non-perishable food items and bottled water to help the people in our Western NC community. Our plan was to pack our two cars with whatever donations we got and drive them to the Winchester's relatives' house at the state line. We would then load the supplies into Shawn and Amy's car for them to take back to NC.
 
Principal Lorenz gave his approval and he and his team got the word out Monday morning to the Atlantic Collegiate Academy family. I had also learned our old school, Asheville Christian Academy, located outside of Asheville in Swannanoa had flooded. It seemed very appropriate that ACA in Myrtle Beach could raise supplies to would help the families of the ACA in Asheville – and give us an added link to that school.
 
By the end of the school day on Monday, enough supplies had been brought to ACA to fill the trunk and back seat of my car. The plan became for me to load my car everyday with whatever supplies were donated, take them to my house, unload into the garage, and repeat each day until Friday. 
 
By the end of school on Tuesday, we had so many items donated there was no way my husband and I could fit them all in our two cars. So, I sent a text to Shawn asking if he could drive down to Myrtle Beach with his 26-foot trailer to pick up the donations on Friday, but Shawn was back in Western NC and didn't have phone signal. I also sent out emails to Asheville Christian Academy asking what they needed, but those emails were not going through.
 
On Wednesday, I finally heard from Shawn, and we were trying to figure out when he should drive down with his trailer. But that time, the donations were overflowing and being stored in the ACA Athletics storage room. We were beginning to doubt that the donations would fit into Shawn's 26-foot trailer. 
 
ACA volleyball coach Larry Church approached me and said his brother was affiliated with 2 Men and a Truck and he would see if they could donate a truck to drive the supplies to NC for us. They generously donated a cargo truck, a driver and gas to transport our supplies! 
 
Also on Wednesday, I got an email from Asheville Christian Academy – one of our emails had finally gone through! They let us know how much they appreciated the prayers and support from Atlantic Collegiate and told us they have no idea of when they would be able to re-enter the school building.
 
For now, they asked if our students would write notes of encouragement and mail those notes to a parent of one of the administrators who was living outside of Asheville and who was still receiving mail. Our English teachers took part of one class period to ask their students to write notes. I have received a large stack of beautifully written notes that will be mailed for distribution to Asheville Christian students.
 
By Thursday, we realized we had more donations than would even fit in the cargo truck. We started to think about having to make a second run with whatever donations wouldn't fit for the first trip.  
 
Patricia Marlow, one of ACA's terrific board members, had been gathering donated teddy bears and toys. Pat knew a lady who had closed her toy store and that lady donated all of her display toys. Pat got her son to go pick those items up, and her son donated a second truck, driver and gas money to take the rest of the donations to North Carolina. 
 
Pat was in the ACA office on Thursday, calling around to local stores looking for a generator. Her nephew AJ lives in Swannanoa and was housing 15 people in his house and barn after all had lost their homes. He needed a generator to supply electricity to his barn, but Pat was not able to find one. One of the volleyball girls heard her on the phone, and she and her family brought in a generator to donate the very next morning.
 
On Friday, the football players and some other students helped load the two trucks. They both left at 1 p.m. headed for Hendersonville. They were met at our storage unit by the Winchesters and 18 of their neighbors who unloaded the two trucks. 
 
Pat's nephew was able to get to the storage unit and pick up the generator and the supplies he needed, and the rest of the supplies were put into three trucks and driven to remote area of Western NC where they were most welcomed.
 
Principal Lorenz had told me when I was hired that ACA is more than a school, it is a family. This past week, with the outpouring of love and support that was shown, I know he is right.
 

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From Principal Mike Lorenz
 

On Friday, at around 12:30 p.m., Atlantic Collegiate Academy students loaded two vehicles with all kinds of supplies to help people in the Swanonoa Valley of North Carolina, about 10 miles east of Asheville, who are still suffering from the effects from Hurricane Helene.
 
The truck was forced to stop in Hendersonville, about 25 miles south of Asheville, to unload supplies because many of the roads into and around Asheville are completely inaccessible. Several people from Swananoa, and other hollers in the lower Appalachian Mountains, came in pickup trucks, side-by-sides and even ATVs to get supplies so they could pass them out in the towns.
 
It was amazing to see all the donations that came in last week and are still coming in now. We had people donating water, diapers, toothpaste, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, Generators, toys and so much more. It is truly inspirational to see the ACA community step up to help people they don't even know. I am so proud of our students and families.

As our students were packing up teddy bears for transport, they were hugging each of them to fill them with love for the children affected by the storm. Everyone just stepped up.
 
To get the supplies from Conway to North Carolina, Two Men and a Truck donated one of their cargo vans and two men to drive and deliver all the supplies. Also, Kenley Tyler of Construction Services Integrated, donated his work truck and driver Artie to make the drive up and deliver supplies.  
 
The people of Hendersonville and Swanonoa were overwhelmed at the generosity of ACA students and staff. The children were so excited to receive teddy bears and toys. Moms were thrilled to stop using t-shirts for diapers and so very thankful for the baby wipes, baby foods and diapers.
 
The family who received the generator and gas were so overwhelmed they broke down crying, as did many others watching her. That family has an infant and an elderly adult who needs oxygen, and the generator will run the oxygen and refrigerator to keep food cold along with preserving baby formula.
 
The donated tools were very well received as well. AJ James, nephew of ACA board member Pat Marlow, and his friend Ryan had been helping to gut damaged homes, trailers and shops in attempts to make repairs and make them habitable. For buildings beyond repair, the salvageable materials are being removed for use on other homes. They had been working with very minimal tools, so the donated items enabled them to continue and involve others in the cleanup effort.
 
The children all received teddy bears and some other toys. All the extra toys and bears were sent to the nearby Black Mountain Children's home. The children's home was severely damaged, and all playthings were destroyed. In the midst of destruction and profound loss, many came out to help unload the trucks from Hendersonville and refused to accept supplies because the people in Swananoa needed them more.
 
All of the recipients were thankful for the love and support sent by strangers in a town most of our students had likely never heard of before they were in a time of dire need.  
 
We also have Limestone Charter sister schools in the Upstate who need help. If we can continue collecting supplies, we will find ways to get them to the upstate region and to other charter schools who need support and help. For any student who brings in 10 or more items to donate, they will earn one hour of community service credit.
 
Below is the list of supplies needed:



About Atlantic Collegiate Academy: Atlantic Collegiate Academy (ACA), located in Myrtle Beach, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while also earning up to two years of college credit. ACA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades. Learn more about ACA by visiting our website at AtlanticCollegiate.Academy and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.