BSA Troop 310 delivers first load of Hurricane Relief donations

‘There are no words for the devastation’- Troop 310 Scoutmaster Chris Thacker

TOP PHOTO: BSA Scouts with Troop 310 of La Follette and Troop 77 out of Dandridge spent Saturday, Oct. 19, unloading and loading donations and supplies for hurricane relief victims in the Newport area.

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Boy Scouts of America Troop 310 delivered its first load of Hurricane Helene Relief donations to Newport and the surrounding communities last Saturday. Donations of first aid kits, diapers, wipes, hygiene products, cleaning supplies, garbage bags, non-perishable food and more were delivered on October 19th to McGowan Creek Baptist Church and Pigeon Valley Baptist Church.

Scouts from Troop 310, along with Troop 77 from Dandridge, met at White Pine with loads of supplies that were then loaded onto a big trailer to be taken to smaller communities in the flood impacted areas of East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, as well as Ashville. Scouts delivered two large trailer loads of these supplies.

According to Troop 310 Scoutmaster Chris Thacker “there are no words for the devastation” once they arrived in flood zone areas.

“It wasn’t their stuff out on the front yard; that was their lives, it was not just sheet rock, not just two-by-fours, it was their furniture, their family pictures, their refrigerators – everything that was inside the houses was outside of the houses in the front yard to be picked up – the only thing you have left after that is ‘thank God we’re together and we’re alive’.” Thacker said.

Saturday’s donation trip was “much needed” and a “good exploratory look at how Scouts can help in the area in the future,” according to Thacker, who said he and other Scout leaders would be discussing how to best help flood victims as they now move into the rebuilding stages.

When Scouts arrived at McGowan Creek Baptist Church in the city limits of Newport, they transferred those supplies to another trailer that was going to Ashville, North Carolina. The rest of the stuff that didn’t head to Ashville went to McGowan Creek Church and added to their supplies for hurricane relief victims. This included multiple pallets of water and medical supplies.

“Because of Eagle Bend Manufacturing, we ended up with two pallets of water from them and a pallet of nitrile gloves and various medical supplies. They donated nearly a trailer worth of stuff. We also had two volunteers from Eagle Bend as well, Orlando Valentine and Dylan Bowlin, and they were a huge help to us. They camped overnight with us, and did a huge service,” Troop 310 Scoutmaster Chris Thacker said.

Troop 310 members who participated in the delivery were Chris and Crystal Thacker, Stewart Thacker, Cody Phillips and Roger Payne. Tropp 77 Scout and volunteers were Wade Horton, Charles Templin, Aaron Lillard, Hunter Hembree, Brayden James, Frank Holloway, Liam Ownby, Evan Ownby, Conley Ownby, Austin Johnson, Anthony Cardella, and James and Ashely Templin.

Chris Thacker said he wanted to say a special thank you to all Scouts, Scout leaders and volunteers that made the drive successful.

Troop 310 began the supply drive several weeks ago and donation bins were set up at multiple locations across the county and the “donations poured in” according to Thacker.

“We wanted to help our East Tennessee neighbors and do all we can in this time of need; that’s what being a Scout is, helping those when they need it,” Thacker said.

Part of the Scout’s time volunteering was spent moving supplies and helping to organize them at Pigeon Valley Church in Hartford, Tennessee.

“We moved a lot of supplies out of their church sanctuary that they had collected so they could use their church sanctuary again,” Stewart Thacker said.

The area of Hartford was devastated, according to Chris Thacker. They camped overnight in this area at the Fox Fire Campground, which was donated to them for the night.

The campground is along the Pigeon River. According to Thacker, the debris at the water’s edge was massive, with about 75 yards worth of trees, parts of buildings, homes and more piled up from the flood.

After a day of loading and unloading donations and supplies, Scouts tent-camped overnight on Saturday. On Sunday morning, a church service was held, and then Scouts and volunteers headed back home to Campbell County.

Thacker and Troop 310 said they want to say thank you to all who donated and a big thank you to all the donation locations and donation partners.

“We want to say a special thanks to Byrge Screen Printing for printing the signs, to People’s Bank of the South and to Smith ACE Hardware, they were a huge help with this,” Thacker said, adding that the Scouts will continue with additional hurricane relief drives.

“We still have our donation bins out, but because the areas are more in the rebuild phase, we are trying to figure out how to best serve their needs now. It may become a coat drive as the weather turns cold, or a toy drive for the kids for Christmas,” Thacker said.

Look for donation bins at the Veteran’s Affairs Office/County Clerk’s Annex Office in LaFollette, at East LaFollette Baptist Church and West LaFollette Baptist Church, as well as at Smith ACE Hardware in LaFollette and at the People’s Bank of the South in LaFollette and in Jacksboro. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-10/28/2024-6AM)