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Small Business Lifestyle

Samaritan’s Purse expands disaster relief units in Western North Carolina [Video]

MONTHS BEFORE THEY ARE PERMANENTLY RESTORED. AND ONE WEEK AGO TODAY, BOONE BASED ORGANIZATION SAMARITANS PURSE DEPLOYED TEAMS TO RESPOND TO HURRICANE HELENE IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS. THEY SAY MORE THAN 5000 VOLUNTEERS HAVE HELPED SUPPORT VICTIMS IN WESTERN COUNTIES. ALDRIDGE BIESK CHECKED IN WITH THE GROUP AND LEARNED THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SCALE UP THEIR RESPONSE. THE CATASTROPHIC IMAGES OF UNRECOGNIZABLE TOWNS AND DAMAGE REPORTS MAKE DISASTER RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS LIKE SAMARITANS PURSE ONCE AGAIN EXPAND ITS EFFORTS. ROADS ARE WASHED. OUT. ITS HARD TO GET TO THE PEOPLE THAT NEED HELP. THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS DOWN. COMMUNICATION IS DOWN HERE. HOMES HAVE BEEN WASHED AWAY. THE FLOODING, THE RIVERS ROSE SO QUICKLY THAT PEOPLE DIDNT HAVE TIME TO GET OUT. JODI YODER WITH SAMARITANS PURSE, SPEAKING WITH ME FROM ONE OF THEIR DISASTER RELIEF UNITS HERE IN THE ASHEVILLE AREA. THE BUNCOMBE COUNTY AREA, JUST THE LOSS OF LIFE. THOSE THAT ARE SUFFERING, THEY DONT KNOW WHERE THEIR FAMILY IS. IF THEYRE ALIVE OR IF THEYVE PASSED AWAY. SO ITS REALLY A SAD SITUATION HERE. WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM THE SURVIVORS? I MEAN, WHAT ARE THE STORIES THAT THEYRE SHARING WITH YOU? IM SURE ITS JUST DESPERATION. YEAH, IT WAS SHEER DESPERATION FOR FOR MOST OF THEM. A LOT OF HARROWING, HARROWING STORIES THAT ARE COMING OUT. ONE OF A GENTLEMAN WHO HELD HIS PARALYZED FATHER ABOVE WATER. THE WATER WAS RISING SO QUICKLY IT WAS UP TO THE SONS CHEST, AND HE HAD TO HOLD HIS DADS HEAD ABOVE WATER TO KEEP THEM ALIVE. THEY WERE EVENTUALLY RESCUED AFTER THE WATERS RECEDED, AND THEY WERE ABLE TO GET INTO THEM. SHE SAYS HELP IS NEEDED FOR THE LONG TERM. ALL ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. SAMARITANS PURSE HAS FLOWN SUPPLIES ON 19 HELICOPTER OPERATIONS TO AREAS THAT ARE CUT OFF FROM BASIC NECESSITIES, SENDING THINGS LIKE INFANT HYGIENE KITS, FOOD, WATER AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND NURSING HOMES. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO DEPLOYED THREE WATER FILTRATION SYSTEMS TO THE ASHEVILLE AREA, INCLUDING SWANNANOA, WHERE THE WATER PIPELINE NETWORK WAS DESTROYED. EACH SYSTEM CAN PROVIDE UP TO 50,000L OF CLEAN WATER DAILY, ENOUGH FOR 10,000 PEOPLE. WE WANT TO BE HERE TO LOVE ON THE PEOPLE, TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN, THAT GOD LOVES THEM, AND THAT WE LOVE THEM, AND WE WANT TO COME ALONGSIDE THEM AND WALK THIS JOURNEY WITH THEM. SENDING COMFORT AND LOVE TO THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST RIGHT NOW. REPORTING FOR WXII 12 NEWS. IM AUDREY BIESK. SAMARITANS PURSE IS OPENING UP A NEW VOLUNTEER SITE IN BURNSVILLE TO ASSIST HOMEOWNERS IN THE MITCHELL AND YANCEY COUNTY AREA. STARTING TOMORROW THROUGH NOVEMBER 2ND, YOU CAN SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER. JUST SEARCH FOR

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Small Business Lifestyle

First Baptist Church lends a helping hand to victims of Helene [Video]

CONNECTIONS INTO FOCUS. THERE TOO. WELL, COMMUNITIES ON THE NORTH SHORE ARE PITCHING IN TO SEND SOME HOPE AND HELP TO THE EAST COAST. A CHURCH IN COVINGTON IS SENDING DONATIONS, CHAINSAW CREWS AND VOLUNTEERS TO NORTH CAROLINA AND OTHER STATES HIT BY HURRICANE HELENE. OUR WDSU NORTH SHORE BUREAU REPORTER SHALONDA JONES JOINS US FROM COVINGTON, WHERE THE HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS ARE. WELL UNDERWAY. SHALONDA. YEAH. MEMBERS HERE AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN COVINGTON ARE SPREADING RELIEF. ONE DONATION BOX AT A TIME. BEHIND ME IS ONE OF SEVERAL TRUCKS THAT WILL BE GOING OUT BETWEEN THIS WEEK AND NEXT WEEK TO GIVE AID TO VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HELENE. OH MY GOD. HELENE TORE THROUGH SEVERAL STATES WHICH LEFT ENTIRE TOWNS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, WATER AND FOOD. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN COVINGTON STEPPED UP TO HELP BY STARTING A DONATION DRIVE. I JUST KNOW EVERY TIME SOMETHING HAPPENS, OUR CHURCH ALWAYS RESPONDS. MINISTER GLEN ROBINSON SAYS SOME OF THE VICTIMS THEY HOPE TO HELP COULD HAVE VERY WELL VISITED HIS OWN HOME AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA. I HAD PEOPLE COME TO MY HOUSE AND CUT TREES OUT OF MY YARD FROM NORTH CAROLINA, AND THEY DID. AND GEORGIA WAS HERE, AND TENNESSEE WAS HERE. ALL THESE PLACES WERE TALKING ABOUT WERE HERE. THE CHURCH IS CALLING FOR THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE TO GIVE WHAT THEY CAN. LIKE THIS COUPLE. SO IM VERY BLESSED THAT WE COULD HELP. BONNIE AND HER HUSBAND, BILL FOSTER, REMEMBER SURVIVING MANY HURRICANES THAT HAVE HIT HERE IN LOUISIANA. BILL SAYS THEY WERE SPARED FROM FRANCINE. BUT HELP ALWAYS COMES AROUND FULL CIRCLE. LIKE NOW WITH HURRICANE HELENE. YOU DONT WANT THESE STORMS TO GO ANYWHERE, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THEY HAVE TO END UP SOMEPLACE AND EVERYBODY GETS THEIR SHARE AND YOU CANT REALLY KEEP SCORE BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS GOING TO NEED HELP. IF YOURE LOOKING TO GIVE, YOU CAN DROP OFF YOUR DONATIONS HERE. AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN COVINGTON. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE EXACT SUPPLIES THAT THEY NEED, MAKE SURE YOU SEE OUR WEBSITE AT WDSU NEWS DOT COM REPORTING FROM

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Small Business Lifestyle

Orlando homeless shelters react to new homeless laws [Video]

Starting October 1st, it is illegal to sleep or camp in public across Florida. Trinette Nation, the Director of Development with the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, joins FOX 35’s Garrett Wymer to break down how this new law and its potential enforcement could impact their services and the homeless community across Florida in the coming weeks.