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After Hurricane Helene made landfall in late September and devastated towns, local resident Olivia Nelson, who has deep roots in North Carolina, decided to rally the Gorge’s river community to support aid relief through a fundraising event. Above, event organizers Grant Braun, Max Blackburn and Nelson. To donate, visit fundraising@helenerebuildcollaborative.org.
After Hurricane Helene made landfall in late September and devastated towns, local resident Olivia Nelson, who has deep roots in North Carolina, decided to rally the Gorge’s river community to support aid relief through a fundraising event. Above, event organizers Grant Braun, Max Blackburn and Nelson. To donate, visit fundraising@helenerebuildcollaborative.org.
THE GORGE — In both the Columbia River Gorge and North Carolina, rivers represent more than just moving water: They are a shared space that connects an entire community of whitewater paddlers. After Hurricane Helene made landfall in late September and devastated towns, local resident Olivia Nelson, who has deep roots in North Carolina, decided to rally the Gorge’s river community to support aid relief through a fundraising event.
“When Hurricane Helene hit Asheville and the surrounding area, it decimated everything, and there were a lot of people struggling,” Nelson said. “Watching it from a distance, I wanted to figure out a way to close that gap and foster that sense of connection that a lot of people in this area, other than myself, also have with western North Carolina.”
Recognizing the strong bond between the Gorge and North Carolina kayakers, Nelson partnered with Immersion Research in downtown Hood River to organize a fundraiser raffle. The retailer specializes in technical outdoor apparel and gear for whitewater.
“It’s really good to be able to look beyond just our time on the river and look at how we can take care of the community on and off the water,” Nelson added. “I’m just so excited to be able to hold out a hand helping hand to a community that’s in need because you never know when you’re going to be in need.”
Max Blackburn, Immersion Research sales manager, said they were happy to provide a space for people to gather as well as items for the raffle.
“A lot of us here feel helpless to do anything, especially because we know how long the recovery is going to take,” Blackburn said. He noted that many friends, families and other retailers were impacted by the hurricane.
“The southeast, especially that particular zone in the southeast, is one of the best and biggest, most popular, paddling hubs,” Blackburn said, adding that the date of the fundraiser coincided with The Green Race, a North Carolina kayaking event on a river that completely changed from the flooding. “If there are two [paddling] communities in the country with the closest connections, it’s like the Gorge and western North Carolina.”
In total, the event raised $2,200 for Helene Rebuild Collaborative, a grassroots organization started by Lance Buskey, Cooper Leist and Sam Iatarola that mobilized the unique skills of outdoor community members to provide immediate relief and aid to the impacted areas. Nelson heard of their work through Buskey, whom she met years ago at a whitewater event near Asheville, North Carolina. “What started with three kayakers, a truck and two 55-gallon drums of water, rapidly evolved into a large-scale relief effort, hiking, biking and paddling resources into hard-to-reach areas with access cut off by the storm,” Buskey explained. “We have helped coordinate aid and resource delivery in fourteen counties through Eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.”
Beyond aiding impacted communities with basic necessities and repairs, the organization has also delivered generators and StarLinks to remote locations, and is closely working with rural areas to solve additional problems as they emerge.
“I was blown away when [Nelson] called last week, letting us know Immersion Research was hosting a fundraiser for our relief efforts here in North Carolina,” Buskey said. “While I have always felt close to and connected with the paddlers from the Pacific Northwest, I didn’t know how deep that connection really is.”
Buskey emphasized how much the support means, especially as they look at a multi-year cleanup effort. “We can’t express enough gratitude … If you are looking for ways to organize fundraisers and want to coordinate with us, please reach out to fundraising@helenerebuildcollaborative.org.”
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