PHOENIX — Christie Ellis’ Ahwatukee garage was packed with boxes full of items shipped to her for victims of Hurricane Helene Monday morning. Ellis and a handful of helpers worked to organize the toiletries, water, dog supplies, clothes and more to both make room for more donations and prepare to ship them all out to North Carolina.
“It was devastating, everything they had lost,” Ellis said.
Ellis’ husband is from North Carolina, and Ellis said most of his family is still out there.
“I didn't realize the extent of what had been done and what was going on, what they were living through, until I started seeing some of them posting their internet started coming up. They started sharing the stories, and the stories were heartbreaking,” Ellis said.
Helene dumped rain inland, leading to severe flooding, landslides and a death toll that’s still climbing.
After seeing the stories, Ellis connected with First United Methodist Church in Taylorsville, N.C. which will take the items, to distribute out to people that need them in surrounding areas. An Amazon Wishlist has been curated by Ellis to meet the needs right now.
But the question of how to get the donations out to North Carolina from Ahwatukee - more than 2,000 miles - came answered in a call Ellis made to Just-In Time Moving.
“I said, ‘Hey, George, how much would you guys charge me to take a truck full of supplies out to North Carolina?’ And he said, ‘Hold on a minute.’ So he called the owner of the company, Justin Hart, and Justin's like, ‘Oh no, we'll totally do it for free. Donate the fuel to get everything. We'll donate the whole thing.’,” Ellis said.
With the truck leaving on Monday morning, Ellis is hoping to have all donations by tomorrow to organize and prep to load. Never anticipating the outpouring from the community to include filling up her garage.
“To have the community respond in this way, especially when you know, economy's not great, things are just a little tougher, and people, they don't have a ton to spend, and they're giving this, and they're donating this like this, is truly amazing,” Ellis said.
If you’re interested in donating, you can order off the wishlist or find more information on Christie Ellis’ social media.
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