NEWLAND, N.C. — Volunteer crews are taking a real roll-up-your-sleeves attitude to help in Ashe County.

Camp Lutherock in Newland has been hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Roads into the Lutheran summer camp were impassable, and excavators, bulldozers and other heavy machinery were brought in to make them drivable again.

What You Need To Know

  • Camp Lutherock was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene

  • The executive director estimated the roads into the Lutheran summer camp will require $13,000 of new gravel before it can be opened up  

  • Volunteers from all over the state are helping to help clear debris from roads and other places on the property

Once access is restored, the camp will be used to house those displaced by last week's storm.

Business owners in Blowing Rock have galvanized efforts to address needs in mountain communities including Camp Lutherock. The director of marketing for Speckled Trout confirmed that $80,000 has been raised for supplies. 

A mass of volunteers from all corners of North Carolina met at the Speckled Trout to leave for Avery County and Damascus, Virginia, on Saturday morning. 

Will and Eric Brinker oversaw the organization of crews.

“We request that people buddy up,” Will Brinker said.

The crew led by Brinker rolled through the mountains and crossed two county lines to get to Camp Lutherock.

Brinker essentially acted as the foreman of the operation as he directed resources and manpower and communicated priorities to other volunteers.

Brinker said the volunteers left the property Friday night with a lot of work completed but returned the next day to see even more done.

“When we left, they hadn’t even started that. All of that got done this morning,” Brinker said as he pointed out the window of an all-terrain vehicle.

Brinker talked about the new trails carved out with crews working before the sun rose.

He stopped to check in with people scattered throughout the hills. One was Maverick Baucom. Baucom traveled to Camp Lutherock from out of town as well.

“Trying to make as much difference as we can in as small amount of time as we can,” Baucom said.

The executive director of Camp Lutherock, Van Van Horne, projected $13,000 in gravel is needed to cover the muddy roads into the base camp.

“To be able to get access into this next cluster of cabins,” Brinker said.

Van Horne said receiving so much help has immensely sped up the timeline to reopen Camp Lutherock. However, he acknowledged that several checklists, such as finding out what relief is available from FEMA and Lutheran Disaster Relief funds, must be completed before displaced families can be welcomed onto the property.

“It’s amazing right now to see all these people here helping and jumping in every way they can,” Van Horne said.