RALEIGH, N.C. — A recent executive order from Gov. Roy Cooper aims to help people in western North Carolina get back on their feet.

What You Need To Know

  • The State Surplus Property Agency takes in unused or no longer needed goods from state entities

  • Those items can range from office equipment to knives taken at TSA

  • Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order directing donations of state surplus to the mountains

Earlier this November, Cooper directed donations to the the State Surplus Property Agency to counties most affected by Tropical Storm Helene. The devastating natural disaster wiped out the property of state agencies, local governments, public schools and nonprofit organizations. The goal of this executive order is to reduce the amount of bureaucracy those agencies and nonprofits helping with recovery normally go through. 

"Our purpose really is to just repurpose vehicles, reuse vehicles and recycle vehicles and, or equipment and furniture for other people that may need it,” said Julia Hegele, the N.C. Department of Administration communications director, while walking through the State Surplus Property Agency. 

She said the executive order gives western North Carolina state agencies and nonprofits helping with recovery a two-week preview of items they may need ahead of the public.

Inside the warehouse of the state surplus agency, you can find rows and rows of hidden treasures.

“People are picking it up and people are buying things,” Hegele said.

From 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, you can walk in and see what agency has in its inventory. The State Surplus Property Agency is a division of the NCDOA.

Hegele said the state surplus agency is responsible for taking in usable leftovers from other state entities, universities and community colleges to resell to the public.

“It all just kind of depends on what agencies no longer need,” Hegele said.

Desk chairs, PC equipment, office tables, furniture and cabinets are items to name a few.

“There’s not any specific rhythm to it,” Hegele said.

Even knives retrieved by the Transportation Security Administration workers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport are for the taking, if the price is right.

“It was a treasure box and a yard sale all in one,” Hegele said.

Yet, there is a greater picture at stake for hurting communities affected by Helene.

Cooper’s executive order gives agencies and nonprofits helping with recovery a chance to replace what’s been lost to life-changing storms.

“They can just call state surplus and say, 'this is something that we're interested in,'” Hegele said. 

Which can mean picking from a physical parking lot of vehicles, including a former state trooper’s Dodge Charger, if that agency or nonprofit helping with recovery needs it.

“We want somebody to find a new home for that,” Hegele said.

It brings new meaning to the phrase, "one man’s trash is another man’s treasure."

There is also a federal surplus inside the warehouse full of items, but that area is off-limits for sale to the general public.

As for the governor’s executive order, an interested party in western N.C. can contact the state surplus about an item, the state surplus can then let the owning agency know there’s a potential buyer and the state agency then asks if that owning agency is interested in donating it.