When Army Sgt. Michael Sharpes saw on social media the devastating blow that Hurricane Helene had dealt North Carolina, he immediately felt the urge to help.
After landing in Florida on Sept. 24, Helene charged a 500-mile destructive path through Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee, ruining communities and killing more than 200 people.
The tragedy is personal to Sharpes, as his wife is from a small North Carolina town in the path of destruction. None of her relatives or friends were hurt or their properties damaged by the hurricane, but they told Sharpes that other people would need help.
When Sharpes and his wife looked for local relief drives in the town of Clifton Park, New York, where they live, but couldn’t find any, he decided to organize his own….