Relief Efforts: Helene

Community Day of Action

Wake Forest hosted a Community Day of Action in service of Hurricane Helene relief on Saturday, Nov. 16. Wake Foresters supported area nonprofits, including Second Harvest Food Bank, the Forsyth County Humane Society and the local diaper bank, as well as the N.C. Disaster Relief Fund.

Donate directly to the N.C. Disaster Relief Fund here.

One-of-a-kind Wake Forest “Mountain Strong/Show Humanitate” T-shirts are still available through The Graphic Cow Company for $35. A portion of the proceeds will support the N.C. Disaster Relief Fund. Shirts can be ordered through Dec. 1.

Other WFU relief efforts

Coordinating WFU efforts

The President’s office is convening a cross-university group to coordinate, communicate and maximize the impact of our shared efforts to respond to Hurricane Helene. To aid in that work, please complete this form to indicate any efforts your department, school or student organization is already undertaking in support of hurricane relief.

Contacted by another school asking for assistance? Coordinate with Julia Jackson-Newsom.

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Financial Support

The Chaplain’s Emergency Fund supports faculty, staff and students experiencing financial hardship, including those impacted by Helene. Ask for help or give to help others. Also, emergency scholarship grants are available through Student Financial Aid. Apply through Nov. 18.

Benefit Recital

Join Dr. Rachael Keplin, violist and Department of Music adjunct faculty, and Davide Bianchi, pianist and faculty with UNCSA Community Music School, for an intimate recital inspired by and in support of the victims of Helene on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. in Brendle Recital Hall. Donate what you can or the suggested donation of $10. All donations will go towards those affected by Helene through the Wake Forest Chaplain’s Fund. More here.

School of Business

The annual fall food drive has become a Helene relief effort. Cans will be collected through Nov. 26 in Farrell Hall. Campus Kitchen is assisting. In addition, the Winston-Salem MBA program is doing a donation drive for Operation Airdrop.

School of Law / Pro Bono Project

The School of Law is holding a donation drive to distribute to three different organizations. It also is collecting financial contributions for organizations focused on different areas (i.e., one on helicopter drops of supplies, one on animals/livestock, and one on hot meals for those affected and the volunteers and first responders). More information here.

Wake Forest University Press

Wake Forest University Press will donate 20% from all website sales for the months of October and November 2024 to The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina for their Hurricane Helene relief efforts. More information here. “Wake Forest University Press has a long association with the mountains of North Carolina,” said WFU Press director Jefferson Holdridge. “We published a book entitled “The Shack” (2015), containing reflections by our poets on their time spent in the foothills and the mountains of the Blue Ridge. We are saddened by what has happened during Hurricane Helene and hope that our donation gives some relief to the people in the area we love so much.”

Wellbeing Center

Campus Recreation is extending its support to college students who have been displaced because their institution has temporarily closed. For displaced students who are home or seeking refuge in the Piedmont Triad area during their school’s closure, we want to assist you in meeting your fitness and wellbeing needs. The WFU Wellbeing Center is pleased to offer free access to all impacted students through the return of in-person classes at each institution. Details are available on the Campus Rec website.

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist employees have been volunteering across western North Carolina, in Wilkes County, Boone, Asheville and other areas. They are also delivering relief kits to emergency shelters. The entire aircraft fleet engaged in patient transports (learn more), and Atrium Health’s MED-1 Mobile Hospital (learn more) has deployed to the impacted area. Patient transfers are being accepted from impacted hospitals, long-term care centers and skilled nursing facilities. In addition, the Piedmont Healthcare Preparedness Coalition — part of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and based out of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center — is supporting the state with resources and personnel. 

Departments are collecting essential items for Operation Airdrop. Due to space constraints on the Winston-Salem campus, we encourage teammates to use drop-off locations at our other hospitals:

• Davie Medical Center: Plaza 2 Entrance and Information Desk; Plaza 1 Outpatient Pharmacy, First Floor; and Administration, Fourth Floor
• High Point Medical Center: Cafeteria
• Wilkes Medical Center: Staff Lounge, First Floor

Also, Wake PA Studies is coordinating efforts to help Wake PA Boone campus students and faculty. More information here.

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Completed relief efforts

Lindsay Chambers (’00) runs the organization Together We Thrive, which has distributed 42,000 Thrive Canteens and 100 reverse osmosis filtration systems. “Water is the cornerstone of life,” said Chambers in a recent Wake Forest Magazine story. Chambers earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Wake Forest and a master’s degree in history from Stanford University in 2008, and she recently served on the Wake Forest Board of Trustees. What has happened in Western North Carolina, she says, “is far and away the biggest water disaster in the United States.”

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• The Facilities, Real Estate and Planning team donated seven pallets (2,000 containers) of disinfectant wipes, medical and cleaning gloves, and other janitorial goods to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office’s drive. It also collected 1,400 cases of food for Manna Food Pantry in Asheville. More here.
• Athletics collected requested goods in four locations and delivered them to the Boone area. It also reached out to impacted schools in the area, including Appalachian State and UNC Asheville, to offer support, resources and practice space. Video boards will promote financial donations for storm relief.
• Wake Forest medical students Sarah Martin and Andy Mendoza partnered with Wine to Water to organize a donation drop-off. More here.
• The Wake Forest biology department collected supplies across Wake Downtown and the Reynolda Campus. More here.
• Facilities, Real Estate and Planning took a volunteer group to Asheville.
• CRU Greek Life at Wake volunteered in Boone on Oct. 5 through Samaritan’s Purse. Also delivered supplies to the Appalachian State CRU ministry. More here.
• Sigma Chi held a fundraiser for the food bank.
• Young Live College and Reformed University Fellowship took 25 students to Boone volunteer.
• Mary Alex Edmiston of the Wake Forest MBA program in Charlotte collected donations from classmates and donated them on Oct. 4 in Lansing and Boone.
• Proof of the Pudding, Wake Forest’s concession vendor, has and will continue to produce boxed meals at Wake Forest through its POP-Up EMS service to feed first responders and relief workers. Over a five-week period, 180,000 boxes will be produced. More here.
• Department of Music and the Writing Center collected donations. More information here.
• Lambda Chi Alpha — Theta Tau Chapter held a Car Wash for a Cause (+ Grill Cookout) to raise money for Hurricane Helene relief.
• The School of Medicine donated 100 hygiene and warmth kits to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office donation drive. More here.
• The Wake Forest-owned Joel Coliseum booked a Hurricane Helene benefit event with the band Goose on Friday, Oct. 25. More information here.
• Reynolda Village partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank for a “Donation Drive-Through” event on Oct. 19 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. For details, see the event on Facebook.
• The Wake Forest Association of Pre-Physician Assistants did a food drive and collection. More here.
• WFU Wesley Foundation: Gathering donations and coordinating with Centenary UMC, who will deliver; working to coordinate a work day with Cross Connection; working to coordinate a fundraiser with UMC ministries across N.C.
• Chi Alpha: Collecting and donating supplies; volunteering.
• WFU Catholic Community: Collecting supplies and fundraising; coordinating a work day in the Boone area with Samaritan’s Purse; planning a weekend of service in the Asheville area in November.