Real People, Real Stories: Helping Veterans After Hurricane Helene

“This was a unique situation,” said James Hunter, Commander of the Department of North Carolina Disabled American Veterans. “Hurricane Helene, when it rolled through North Carolina, nobody expected the aftermath to be anything like what it was.”

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is a nationwide organization that was created in 1920 for disabled military veterans. The DAV assists veterans and their families in accessing benefits earned through military service, providing program services, representing the interests of disabled veterans within state and local government, and providing help and resources through local state chapters.

“The DAV’s mission is really to help veterans live a more fruitful and productive life with dignity based upon the services and disabilities that incurred while they were on active duty,” Hunter said. “That’s our main goal.”

Hunter has been the commander for the past two years. Before working at the DAV, he served 31 years in the Marine Corps. He became involved with the DAV because he wanted to help and support the veteran community.

When Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina, it affected hundreds of thousands of people and their homes. The storm caused landslides, power outages, flooding, and over 200 fatalities. 

“Whole slides of mountains just came down and took out all the infrastructure, everything,” Hunter said. “There’s still places up there right now that have absolutely no power and it will probably be April or May before they actually get power because they have to rebuild brand new roads because the roads are gone.”

Many DAV members were directly impacted by the storm. Despite this, Hunter said many veterans continued to help others in their community even though they lost their homes, power, and more.

“As word kept coming back about things that they needed, the one thing that I kept hearing was we need generators,” Hunter said. “Then those things started showing up and then it was like I’m getting word that well we got these generators it’s wonderful but we have no fuel to run them.”

Hunter remembered back to his days in the Marine Corps when they used 55 gallon drums to transport fuel they needed in expeditionary campsites. "We would put a hand crank pump on the drums and use that to fuel vehicles and equipment," Hunter said. "That’s where the idea started.”

After researching different companies that have 55 gallon drums for sale, Hunter said he chose The Cary Company for its competitive pricing and local branch in Charlotte, North Carolina, to save on shipping costs.

“You have a very family-oriented type mentality so it was like reaching out to a family member saying 'hey I need this what can you do for me',” Hunter said. “We are better off for you all being here.”

The day he was going to pick up his order, he experienced a delay from rain and traffic that prevented him from arriving at Cary's warehouse before they closed. He contacted the warehouse manager, who informed him that he would wait another hour for them to pick up the drums.

“It allowed us to continue on the next morning really bright and early to go up into the mountains to start delivering these at about six different locations,” Hunter said. “They were fueled and filled up and then they were either taken up by off-road vehicles and some of the partnerships we have with some of the other veterans groups flew them in on helicopters to drop them off at spots in the mountains that still have no roads.”

“We could not have accomplished any of the fueling requirements for these families [without the drums] and there’s no doubt in my mind that the fuel that was placed in those barrels, especially after this last week or two, how many lives have been saved,” Hunter said. “I truly believe it’s divine intervention that they were given to us at a time to get them in place prior to these last couple snow and winter arctic blasts. I can’t put a price on what it has done over the impact it has had in that community up there.”

“There’s always a silver lining and The Cary Company is the silver lining in my story,” Hunter said.

The Cary Company would like to thank the DAV for their dedication and ongoing efforts in assisting veterans in accessing essential resources, and for allowing us to help along the way.

Visit the DAV’s website if you are interested in learning more about the organization, how you can get involved, or want to donate to help their mission.

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