COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. — It’s been three months since Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina, leaving many displaced and in need of a helping hand.
A nonprofit in the coastal region is working hard to help neighbors across the state by providing fresh, locally harvested venison.
At Dixie’s Harvest for Hope, hunting season and the holiday season go hand in hand. Dixie Vice President Myles Swain says the nonprofit gives back to the community every year with donated deer meat from local hunters.
“Each year we’ll take in donations from hunters,” Swain said. “They can donate the whole deer or part of the deer, every little bit helps.”
This year, the donations will go to a community in need of extra help: western North Carolina.
“We wanna focus on disaster relief,” Swain said. “Because being from southeastern North Carolina, we’re no stranger to hurricanes and floods.”
According to the state’s Helene Damage and Needs Assessment released this month, more than 73,000 homes were destroyed and tens of thousands more were damaged. That report also says millions of North Carolinians were left without critical services like water and electricity. That’s why Swain wants to give his western neighbors one less thing to worry about.
“A lot of times after the disaster happens, in the hours and days after a disaster, there’s so much help, there’s an influx of help, and as the days go on it feels like the help kind of dwindles down and people might be forgetting about them,” Swain said. “But we want to let them know that they aren’t forgotten.”
So far, Dixie’s has already received more than 2,000 pounds of deer meat to be sent to the mountains, and there’s more coming in every day.
Swain says each of their two-pound bags of ground venison can feed about six people, meaning thousands of western North Carolinians will benefit from these donations.
“When we announced this program, people were excited, people wanted to help,” Swain said. “We’ve had people drop off whole deer, parts of deer, deer that they have in their freezer, it’s just been awesome.”
Hunting season ends in North Carolina on January 1. Dixie’s Harvest for Hope will still be accepting donations through the end of January. Those donations include entire or partial harvests, ingredients to go with the meat such as taco shells, pasta or hamburger buns.
Swain says the Dixie’s Crew will be driving to the mountains and hand delivering those donations and are looking for additional freezers as well.