INDIANAPOLIS — Hoosiers are helping those impacted by Helene — whether they are on-site helping communities recover, flying above the flooding to deliver aid, or collecting things for those in need.
"We really felt strongly that this is what we needed to do," Pastor Daniel Parnell of East Street Apostolic Church said.
Parnell is hoping to fill his congregation with tiny blessings to send to those recovering from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
"We're asking for baby food and formula. We're asking for work gloves so people can clean up their yards, water, hydration packs, any of those things, cleaning supplies," Parnell said.
The church is open for donations every day this week from 5 to 7 p.m.
"With family there, it's a place that's close to my heart," Parnell said.
Parnell said he was finally able to get in touch with his family late Saturday.
WATCH | Indiana non-profit flying supplies to North Carolina with volunteer pilots
"They don't have water or electricity or anything like that, but they are safe, and they are okay," Parnell said.
It's the close tie that ignited him and his team to get to work.
"The folks that we are partnering with in the Carolina region are actually flying the supplies into areas where vehicles cannot go," said Parnell. "They're physically dropping goods onto mountains and into small communities that are still cut off," Parnell said.
These are challenges Joe Slater, the Chief Operations Officer at Feeding America, knows all about.
"We're waiting to see how close we can get it to the affected areas," Slater said.
Slater said they sent disaster relief boxes to Atlanta before the storm hit, but now with a food bank being destroyed in Asheville, they are doing all they can to send resources to folks over high water.
"We think East Tennessee is the best staging area, potentially Charlotte to get product into the most affected areas," Slater said.
"We will be leaving the parking lot Friday night after we close at seven with whatever we're able to bring in donation-wise, and we will be physically taking that down there for delivery on Saturday," Parnell.
