Today I switched gears a little bit. Instead of working in the warehouse one end of the street, I walked up to the other end, and got to organize the food stock at Blunt Pretzels. There is quite the operation going on here on Alexander Place. It’s up a small hill from the river, so it really didn’t get swamped. The free food/clothes/cleaning supplies/diapers/odds and ends is at one end in the beige corrugated/brick building in the pic below. A couple of the volunteers sleep on folding cots in there; the warehouse manager sleeps in his truck nearby.
Up at the other end of the street, there’s a hot food spot operating out of the Blunt Pretzels store. As the name suggests, they made big artisan pretzels out of the store until the storm. After the storm, the owner brought in shelves for stock, brought in food, and started feeding people. Some of what they cook is done outside, and all of it is served out there. World Central Kitchen provided an 8000 gallon water tank and plumbed it to the kitchen. WCK also supplies some of the food. The rest comes from donations. There aren’t any WCK folks working in the hot food operation. I think maybe two people are still being paid by Blunt Pretzels (?) but everyone else is a volunteer. It takes around 40 people each day to feed around 1500 people. Everyone is very focused on the task at hand, and takes this feeding business very seriously. Blunt Pretzels has just started to make some of their own product again, primarily for shipment. But the store has basically been closed for six weeks. When I asked someone today, they said the goal was to end serving free hot food there by Jan 1, but they would be there for the duration.
Folks volunteering on Alexander Place have come from all over the country. Some are living in tents. Some are finding other places to bunk. There are people from different parts of NC too, and folk right from Swannanoa who are looking to pitch in and keep busy helping their neighbors.
I had a chance to meet a lot of people from Swannanoa yesterday and today. Yesterday about 1/2 of the people who came to the warehouse were Hispanic. Some spoke English, others did not. I know enough Spanish to let people know I’m friendly, then Google translate goes into overtime mode. I can mangle the result in such a way to be understood, but also to elicit some giggles.
The other folks that came in yesterday are from all different stripes. Moms with a couple of littles in tow or with a baby. Maybe to get some food, diapers, baby food and a few items of clothing. A newlywed couple. Men getting food to bring home, or “diapers for my grandson”. Elderly and disabled people. The one common thread was that everything, or nearly everything was gone. Including the $750 in emergency funds.
When I got to the warehouse yesterday, Paul, the man who supervises there told me that a lot of people who came in would just want to talk and tell their story. The guy who came in for the diapers was a bit awkward and kept saying he had never been there before. He was friendly, and you just knew it was killing him to come and ask for help. He needed help finding the right size, and as we were sorting through the diaper packages, told me in a quieter voice that they had temporarily run out of money and diapers at the same time. Another guy came in, looked at me very seriously and told me he had developed an addiction. When I said, “That’s fine, how can I help?” He started laughing and asked me where he could find the cans of green beans. Then he proceeded to tell me how his Mama used to make them. He had been cooking them everyday since the power came back on. Comfort food. A fifth grade girl told me how happy she was when school opened because she could be with her friends and not think about “All this stuff.”
One man came in to drop off two bags of shoes. They were gently worn. It looked like he had suffered a stroke, and the shoes were on a cart. He was limping and could only use one arm. After some confusion and the miracle of Google translate I finally figured out that he was DONATING the shoes and not taking them home. Told me he didn’t need them, and wanted someone else to have them who didn’t have shoes. I asked him about his house. He made a swishing sound and flicked his hand up in the air. Gone. But they had been able to grab some stuff as the water came up, and that included those shoes.
Up the street I was able to talk to some folks who were getting hot food. Many were living in houses with marginal damage, but couldn’t cook there because of the contaminated water. They didn’t even trust it after it was boiled and didn’t even want to take showers in it because of all of the runoff that might have gone into the reservoir. I heard that same thing from a couple of people. Water filter systems in five gallon buckets are a real hot commodity at the warehouse.
When the storm came through, it took out not only the major aqueduct (I guess) from the reservoir into Buncombe County, it took out the water treatment plant as well. It took a couple of weeks to get the water flowing back into the greater Asheville area again, but there’s still no way to treat the water.
Most of the independent restaurants in downtown Asheville are closed. Another economic impact. I ate last night at Mellow Mushroom. No veggies. Can’t wash them. No plates. Can’t wash those either. The only beverages that are available in the entire county aside from coffee and beer need to come out of a can or a bottle. The guy at Dunkin Donuts told me this morning that they hope to have clean water by Christmas.
Meanwhile, on Alexander Place, the tanker truck came today with fresh water for Blunt Pretzels.
Thanks from out here, and y’all have a good night!
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