Current:Home > ScamsAmid Hurricane Helene’s destruction, sports organizations launch relief efforts to aid storm victims-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Amid Hurricane Helene’s destruction, sports organizations launch relief efforts to aid storm victims
View Date:2024-12-23 14:42:08
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — N.C. State football player Davin Vann was on the move, tiptoeing his way between obstacles in the Wolfpack’s indoor practice facility midway through a game week.
And it had nothing to do with the upcoming visit from Wake Forest.
Instead, he stepped carefully through and over boxes of canned food, stacks of bottled water, shopping bags full of diapers, personal hygiene products and batteries. The defensive end known for chasing down ballcarriers was playing quarterback in a way, leading a donation drive to help victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina and aided by his family’s moving company.
The drive — so successful that it has extended to run the rest of the week — is just one example of multiple sports-related efforts seeking to help those affected by the storm that left a shocking trail of devastation through parts of the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.
“That was kind of my mindset going into it, kind of ‘I hope we get enough people to at least help a little bit,’” Vann told The Associated Press. “So yeah, it was way more than I expected.”
The death toll has topped 200 after the Category 4 storm rolled through the southeast last week, with flooding washing out roads to cut off entire communities that lack electricity, water and cellular service. Relief efforts are ongoing through multiple states, and that includes from college and professional sports.
In Charlotte, David Tepper — owner of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers — and his wife Nicole have committed $3 million to relief efforts through their foundation. The NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and the NASCAR racing team owned by retired NBA and North Carolina great Michael Jordan have each committed $1 million toward relief efforts.
Not far away in Concord, the Charlotte Motor Speedway track known for NASCAR races has spent multiple days holding a donation drive and extended that work into Thursday due to strong community response. Closer to the devastation, a parade of trucks carrying donations arrived at the North Wilkesboro Speedway on Thursday.
In eastern Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway was designated as a regional disaster relief center, accepting donations.
“Our communities, friends and loved ones are hurting, and we stand ready to assist in any way that we possibly can,” said Jerry Caldwell, the speedway’s president and general manager.
Elsewhere in that state, Eastern Tennessee State University has been collecting donations, sending four vans to a nearby high school being used as a shelter with four truckloads taken to a church in Erwin. The Buccaneers host Chattanooga in football on Saturday with fans asked to bring more supplies with them to donate.
North Carolina State’s indoor practice facility and Carter-Finley Stadium share the same parking area as the Lenovo Center, the arena home of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. As Vann worked into Wednesday evening helping people unload donations, the Hurricanes held a fundraiser tied to their preseason game against the Nashville Predators and raised roughly $280,000 for Helene relief.
Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said Vann’s mother, Joy Hall, who owns the Cary-based Joyful Movers company that opened in 2006, reached out shortly after the storm. Their plan was to collect supplies to deliver to the Durham Rescue Mission’s larger relief efforts.
As Vann sifted through supplies Wednesday evening and greeted donors with a handshake, Hall was there with other family members, working her way through a line of flattened cardboard boxes to prepare them to be packed with donations. Meanwhile, cars kept trickling in, sometimes with supplies stacked high in the backseat.
“I was really thankful to them,” Doeren said Thursday of Vann’s family. “It’s an uplifting deal that they’re doing. And now it’s just multiplied into a lot of people being involved in it. And so a lot of our players have been helping, a lot of staff — our recruiting staff, our (operations) staff — a lot of hands on deck loading trucks, people in the community coming in and dropping off things for all the folks that need it.”
Vann’s donation drive has already filled six trucks with supplies as of Thursday, with more to come.
“It’s very heartwarming,” Vann said. “I’m very happy to see the community is more than willing to give their time and their money to help the people of western North Carolina, even if they’ve never met them before.”
___
AP Sports Writers John Raby in West Virginia and Teresa M. Walker in Tennessee contributed to this report.
veryGood! (217)
Related
- Full House's John Stamos Shares Message to Costar Dave Coulier Amid Cancer Battle
- Cardi B Is Pregnant and Divorcing Offset: A Timeline of Their On-Again, Off-Again Relationship
- Fiery North Dakota derailment was latest crash to involve weak tank cars the NTSB wants replaced
- Chris Evans Reveals If His Dog Dodger Played a Role in His Wedding to Alba Baptista
- Brittany Cartwright Defends Hooking Up With Jax Taylor's Friend Amid Their Divorce
- 2024 Olympics: Simone Biles Wins Gold During Gymnastics All-Around Final
- Who is Paul Whelan? What to know about Michigan man freed from Russia
- ACLU sues Washington state city over its anti-homeless laws after a landmark Supreme Court ruling
- Love Actually Secrets That Will Be Perfect to You
- Who will host 'Pop Culture Jeopardy!' spinoff? The answer is...
Ranking
- Trump on Day 1: Begin deportation push, pardon Jan. 6 rioters and make his criminal cases vanish
- 14-month-old boy rescued after falling down narrow pipe in the yard of his Kansas home
- Sunisa Lee’s long road back to the Olympics ended in a familiar spot: the medal stand
- NBC defends performances of Peyton Manning, Kelly Clarkson on opening ceremony
- Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls
- Sunisa Lee’s long road back to the Olympics ended in a familiar spot: the medal stand
- Arkansas Supreme Court asked to disqualify ballot measure that would block planned casino
- Chris Evans Reveals If His Dog Dodger Played a Role in His Wedding to Alba Baptista
Recommendation
-
A $1 billion proposal is the latest plan to refurbish and save the iconic Houston Astrodome
-
There are so few doctors in Maui County that even medical workers struggle to get care
-
Wisconsin judge refuses GOP request to pause absentee voting ruling sought by disabled people
-
There are so few doctors in Maui County that even medical workers struggle to get care
-
Olivia Munn Says She “Barely Knew” John Mulaney When She Got Pregnant With Their Son
-
Regan Smith races to silver behind teen star Summer McIntosh in 200 fly
-
Who will host 'Pop Culture Jeopardy!' spinoff? The answer is...
-
Facing rollbacks, criminal justice reformers argue policies make people safer