TROY, PENNSYLVANIA (WENY) -- While North Carolina is far from our region, that hasn't stopped Masonic Lodge members from helping people affected by Hurricane Helene. In their meetings over the last few weeks, Trojan Masonic Lodge #306 members in Troy decided to fill a truck with supplies and bring it down south.
The Hurricane Helene relief drive was dubbed "Operation Brotherly Love."
Cliff Rigby, Brian Greenough, and Larry Ward, a few lodge members, explained that they have spent the last few days collecting donations from the community and loading it into Rigby's truck. Rigby is a truck driver who donated his truck to the cause and his time. He will be driving the truck down to North Carolina once it's all ready to go.
"So everybody in our area has just been wonderful, collecting all kinds of items, from water to baby goods, dry food, clothing, warm hats, mittens, candles, everything to anything and everything," said Rigby. "It's just to make the community, you know, be able to take care of their daily lives, to have a little bit of normalcy while there's so much chaos."
As Rigby said, a variety of items have been donated by the community. However, a few items in particular struck a chord with the members. A woman brought handmade winter hats that she knitted herself. Another woman brought a bin full of wash kits, pouches sewn by hand and filled with shower materials, and a book. Rigby even mentioned a teenage girl who stopped by and donated $100 to the cause.
"It is truly heartwarming to see the response from the community," said Greenough. "Not just in Troy but the whole surrounding area, to see people really understanding the need and the variety of items that are needed and they're addressing that need and it's so heartwarming and it really brings back your faith in humanity and we're just so happy to help facilitate this."
Ward added on by saying many people in the area don't know that the Masons are even present in their community. He says they are a fraternal organization that cares about the world which is why they felt called to help those impacted by Helene.
In the last several years, the Northern Tier has seen devastation from multiple natural disasters so members say they sympathize.
"The emotions and people just willing to give from their heart and their stories because we've had flooding," said Rigby. "We've had flooding here in years past and so many people said we know what it's like and they wanted to give back."
On Monday, October 21, Rigby will drive his truck filled with supplies down to a local Masonic lodge in Waynesville, North Carolina. From there, the items will be brought to a small warehouse and distributed among local organizations, churches, and communities to give to as many people around the Asheville area as they can.