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Owner of Williamsport hauling service collects for North Carolina communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene

Kevin Breen, a retired Williamsport Bureau of Fire firefighter & engineer, is collecting donations to be taken to Western North Carolina. Breen had been effected by what he saw delivering building supplies to the area which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene and decided to take it upon himself to collect supplies and drive them down to the area. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

There’s been no shortage of outpouring of cash and material donations for Hurricane Helene flood disaster recovery coming out of the Greater Williamsport region.

Just a month after the storm destroyed whole communities in western North Carolina, a Williamsport man, who saw widespread damage from floods caused by the storm while delivering Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers to many of these hard hit locations, is on another mission to assist the communities.

Kevin Breen, 57, a retired Williamsport Bureau of Fire firefighter and fire engineer, said he will leave early Saturday with his wife, Denise, for Boone, North Carolina.

“I saw the need when I was there delivering FEMA trailers,” said Breen, who owns Orange Blossom Services, LLC, a transportation hauling service.

Breen has been manning a drop-off location at 127 Reynolds St. in South Williamsport, accepting the donations since last weekend. They are being stored in large donated cardboard boxes inside the building. He has a flatbed that was used to deliver the trailers and will be used to transport the disaster relief items that are included in a list below. He said he received notice of what was needed from a disaster relief coordinator down there. The drop-off site continues to accept items from 2 to 7 p.m. through Friday, according to Breen and what is on the Facebook post. The couple will be leaving early Saturday.

By a mere coincidence, about three weeks before Helene swept through North Carolina, Breen said he transported post and beam timber frame construction materials for a house being built high on a mountainside about 5,100 feet in elevation.

“The house was probably fairly safe, but residents in the community below had no way out because the roads on the backside of the mountain were washed out and the road I used to get into that development was totally washed out,” Breen said. “I can’t use that road to this date. I have to use a detour because it is limited to trucks that are 30 feet in length and I have a 60-foot-long vehicle.”

“I was still driving on mud-packed-covered roads,” he said. “The trees were still cut back to the shoulders of the road, just to get to the area to deliver the trailers.” In some areas, the roads were washed away and gone. Some of the roads had half a lane. Some had no lane and some had a full asphalt surface but were undermined and only hanging on by the tension of the asphalt.”

He also could see who he described as homeless individuals, some of them carrying a shopping or grocery bag and piles of debris alongside the roads where houses once stood.

The usable items will go for disaster recovery victims in the Banner Elk and Boone North Carolina areas, he said.

“I have been in touch with folks in that area as well as a disaster relief coordinator and discussed what is needed most,” he said. “Denise and I will be buying and donating some stuff.”

Breen could not express his appreciation enough for the generosity of the community and the donations.

“We’ve had donations of money, food, and clothing,” he said.

“I felt there was more I could do than tow FEMA trailers,” Breen said.

So, he said, he is going to use any profits he received from delivering the FEMA trailers for the round trip.

The donated items do not need to be brand new but, rather, usable materials are what are needed most, he said.

The outpouring of support is heartening to Breen, who retired from the Bureau of Fire this past June.

He remarked how the cardboard boxes were from a Scranton-area location and were given to him once he explained what the mission was about.Others have purchased clothing and hats and then donated the material.

Currently, the Bureau of Fire members and those in the firefighters’ union have helped by reposting his Facebook site with details on the mission, he said.

“Next thing I know, there were probably 100 shares,” he said.

The first part of the disaster recovery list are those desperately needed, and the second part is for ongoing needs.

• Small green propane cylinders

• Regulators and hoses for propane

• Kerosene/diesel turbo (jet) heaters

• Chainsaw bars, chains, bar oil & files

• Dehumidifiers

• Butane canisters

• Insulated/ice fishing-style tents with chimney opening

• Insulated boots

• Wool & heavy socks

• Non-perishable foods, especially canned and cured meat, beans and rice

• Pots, pans, utensils

• Dog and cat food

• Warm clothing for all ages

• Hats

• Gloves

• Blankets

• Flat shovels

• Spade shovels

• Garden rakes

• Wheelbarrows

Less needed but also accepted are:

• Diapers

• Wipes

• Baby food and formula

• Onesies

• Sanitary gloves

• Hand sanitizer

• Soap/body wash

• Shampoo

• Brushes

• Toothbrushes/toothpaste

• Disposable plates, silverware and paper towels/napkins

To date, Helene has caused at least 98 reported deaths in the western Appalachian region. The storm’s heavy rains caused significant destruction of road and bridge infrastructure, as seen in Breen’s Facebook posts, and the impact continues for many residents of western North Carolina.

Although it will be three days past Halloween, Breen said he and Denise are planning to take several bags of candy to distribute to families with children in the Banner Elk and Boone, North Carolina, area.

The round trip is being paid for using the profits Breen made from the delivery of the FEMA trailers.

Breen said the trip shows the true generosity that many in Williamsport and throughout northcentral Pennsylvania have for others in their time of need.

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