10/20/2024
Aloha to all of you who remember us and Jazz Maltz. We started a GoFundMe for Jazz and his Hurricane Helena volunteer group efforts. Below is a recent update from Jazz. Thank YOU for taking the time to read and check out the GoFundMe. Any amount will help warm a home, feed a houseless family, and support Jazz, and the volunteers continue to do their essential work.
Thanks for donating, sharing, and sending your blessings to him, his daughter, and the devastated community. Yes, things are getting better, but there is SOOO much to do, and it will be a long recovery.
Today From Daniel Jazz Maltz
Hi everyone,
First, I want to extend a heartfelt Thank You to everyone who has donated. Your support means the world to me as I navigate this difficult time. Second, I want to thank my mom for setting this up, helping me with the technical aspects, and being so supportive.
These past three weeks have been some of my life's most catastrophic and most beautiful. Hurricane Helene was like nothing I had experienced before, and the destruction was hard to comprehend. My little town of Barnardsville was hit specifically hard. Roads were washed out, houses were swept into the river, and there has been tragic loss of life. In the early days, we had no cell service or internet and saw very little government support. In response, the community rallied together. We planned a meeting to be held at the post office the day after the storm and raised awareness through word of mouth( no phones!). From the meeting, we decided to start a mutual aid distribution center. We cooked and served a hot meal every day, set up a first aid clinic, set up a free store, and organized wellness checks and aid distribution. Our teams went up every road and went door to door with water, food, and first aid supplies to make sure our neighbors were ok. We did this by ourselves. FEMA was not here and local and federal government was barely present.
Three weeks have passed and the situation is very different, power and internet service are mostly restored yet many, many households are still without water and will be in the future. It is also getting cold.
I have talked a lot so far about our collective efforts but will try to focus back on my personal update! I was involved from day one with disaster relief helping to support the creation of the Mutual Aid Hub and distributing supplies to those in immediate need. I am focusing my efforts on two things now
1. Develop long-term systems and infrastructure to continue providing aid to my community
- The Hurricane was catastrophic but many in our community have been suffering through the slower catastrophe of poverty since before the storm and current conditions have only made it worse. It is up to us to create the systems to distribute aid and resources to those most in need now and into the future. We are looking at getting a permanent location for our hub and planning on being here for the long haul!
2. Develop a free firewood bank
- As many of you know I am passionate about forestry and it has been heartbreaking to see how severely the forest has been impacted by the storm and the sheer amount of wind fallen trees. I am making the most out of this situation by working with a team of fellow volunteers to process those trees into firewood to heat people's homes this winter. We are a self-organized crew and are partnering with the local community center to set up a permanent firewood bank. There was already a large need from before the storm and it is greater now. I have delivered wood to folks whose whole supply had gotten washed away in the flood and to families who have had to move into temporary housing that lacks electric heat.
By donating to this gofundme you are helping me do this critical work. My employment has been greatly impacted by the storm and jobs I was counting on have been canceled or postponed indefinitely. Despite that, I have been working every day to support my neighbors and help my community recover. I have been doing this while parenting my daughter Freya and helping her make sense of this new world that we live in. I am trying to make time to have fun with her and show her that a beautiful new world is possible out of the rubble of the old.
Again thank you so much for your support and feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to learn more. I may not get back to you right away but it is good to know there are folks out there thinking about us!
Sincerely,
Jazz
Help Jazz and Volunteers Rebuild Their Community Hurricane Hele… Donna Maltz needs your support for Support Jazz and Volunteers Recover from Hurricane Helene
