OSHKOSH (WLUK) – Two weeks after Hurricane Helen destroyed parts of the state, images coming out of North Carolina continue to have an impact.
Krista Wilson of Oshkosh said, “Just seeing the mudslides and the high water levels and all that, it just pulled me in. I didn’t know anyone there. I just wanted to do something.” I felt a sense of remorse as a survivor.”
She trains at FIRE Fitness in Oshkosh. So she reached out to her fitness family for help. They complied.
“We have diapers, toothpaste, wipes, baby formula and tarps,” Wilson said.
All week they have been collecting supplies to send to North Carolina for recovery efforts.
Oshkosh Fire Fitness owner Eli Macias added, “People have been taking away and dropping a lot of things over the past few days. It’s great to see.”
But with roads washed out and travel to the affected areas restricted, Wilson called on his son Jay, a pilot, for help.
Jay Wilson said, “I didn’t expect to receive so many donations.”
His Piper Comanche six-seater plane is currently packed with supplies. Basler Flight Service donated fuel for his trip.
Then, on Saturday morning, Wilson and a friend plan to leave Oshkosh and head to North Carolina’s Ashe County Airport to unload the goods.
It’s a donation collection location two hours outside of Asheville.
“We have to fly into this airport and it seems like everything is being distributed from there,” Krista Wilson said.
Wilson flies about three hours to North Carolina and three hours back.
While it’s a one-day trip for him, he and his mother and her training family hope the impact will be long-lasting.
Jay Wilson said: “It’s going to be a pretty humbling experience when we land there. It feels good to use your plane to help something and we’ll see.” .
His mother added, “It just feels so good when you’re just helping other people.”
