TRADE, Tenn. — Several businesses and organizations are stepping up to address the need following the damage done by Helene.
Zionville Ramp Co. is a skate park that sits on the state lines of Tennessee and North Carolina. The Trade, Tennessee, warehouse is a familiar to many in western North Carolina, but now, it's added something to its facility: Serving as the bridge for community members in need.
"They can't get to Mountain City," Ashley Galleher, the owner of Zionville Ramp Co., explained. "The road is washed out, and the Walmart in Boone flooded, and Boone is just chaos, and ... there weren't supplies to get. So I knew that the need was here, and I knew that we had the space for it, and I knew I had a team of people ready to go, and then more people have stepped up to the plate and brought their skills and created something that's really beautiful.”
The location of the warehouse is also key when providing the support to the areas.
“When people come in and say, 'My basement's full of mud,' 'my dehumidifier doesn't work,' 'my whole house washed away,' OK, let's document all those needs," Galleher said. "Let's get everything in writing and contact info, because we have people that are coming in as resources that want to help do that kind of work. So we're able, from here, to dispatch work teams and specialty contractors and other people who are volunteering their time to get out and get the needs met pretty quickly.”
Galleher plans to serve as a distribution center for as long as the community needs. She feels it's important for them to answer that call for help.
“If there's no community and the infrastructure of our immediate community doesn't exist, then nothing else matters," Galleher said. "So if we can take care of Trade and western Watauga, and this section of Ashe, then that can branch out and create a ripple effect for the whole region."
Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.