“I’ve lost nearly everything. My basement was flooded. My office and bedroom were destroyed. All my clothes are gone.”
Yet, Silvia Peterson’s determination to help Western North Carolina’s Latino community recover after Hurricane Helene is undaunted. More than three weeks after Helene ravaged NC’s Appalachian region, Peterson—the Volunteer Executive Director at the Mitchell County-based Service Center for Latinos—translated for and advised approximately 75 Spanish-speaking storm survivors patiently waiting in line to gather food, water, and other supplies on Thursday, October 24 in Spruce Pine.
That morning, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina partnered with Asheville-based MANNA FoodBank—a fellow Feeding America partner—and the Service Center for Latinos to distribute fresh, culturally meaningful food items and other goods at a Community Market held in the parking lot of Spruce Pine’s Central Baptist Church. Second Harvest’s Mobile Nutrition Services Unit traveled nearly three hours from Winston-Salem to deliver fresh produce—tomatoes, peppers, onions, mangos, apples, eggs, and milk—as nearly a dozen volunteers distributed foods such as tortillas, canned Goya items, and corn flour. Attendees also collected general products like cereal, juice, baby formula, blankets, candles, paper products, and bottled water.
Spruce Pine—Mitchell County’s largest town and home to more than 2,000 residents—suffered catastrophic flooding after over two feet of rain fell, causing the North Toe River to destroy homes, businesses, and infrastructure. As roads and shops reopen and water and power return, Spruce Pine and surrounding communities face a lengthy rebuilding process.
Members of Mitchell County’s 1,000+ Latino community—some of whom are migrants working under H-2A agricultural visas—have been especially vulnerable to food insecurity even before Helene. Service Center’s Peterson said many Latino families are either “too shy or too scared” to visit food distribution centers even when they and their families face hunger. Also, many Latinos in the area have little to no English-speaking skills, making communication with food banks difficult. Since the storm, the need for food assistance among Latino families in and around Mitchell County has skyrocketed as many—including Peterson—financially struggle with rebuilding their homes and livelihoods.
To help address these needs, MANNA and the Service Center have organized monthly Community Markets for the past five years to support these hardworking North Carolina families.
Amelia Fleckenstein—a Second Harvest Nutrition Educator—said Second Harvest is also providing perishable products requiring cold storage to Western NC residents, owing to the storm’s devastation of MANNA’s Asheville facility in late September. On the Community Market day we attended, Second Harvest’s Mobile Nutrition Services Unit van delivered jalapeños, chilis, and mangos traditional in Hispanic cuisine.
Bethany Vance—MANNA’s Community Markets Supervisor—said that beyond fresh foods, basic kitchen products such as baking powder, flour, sugar, and cooking oils are among the items most requested by families, especially with power restored to most homes across the region.
While most of Thursday’s food distribution attendees were Latino, residents from all backgrounds visited and received supplies at the event. Wade Renfro—a Vietnam veteran and longtime Spruce Pine resident in his late 70s—said his mountain-top residence sustained significant wind and tree damage from Helene. As Renfro and his wife prepare for a long home repair process and the colder months bring added expenses, they have sought assistance from the Market food distribution efforts.
“We’ve had a rough time,” said Renfro. “Food banks have given us some relief. The road may be tough, but God has been good to us.”
Service Center’s Peterson, meanwhile, echoes Renfro on the challenges ahead and the resilient optimism expressed by nearly all in Western NC. “Many of us do not have the money to recover. It will take months for some and years for others for things to get back to normal. But we will get there.”
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