Soldiers and veterans who live in Moore County, near Fort Liberty and the home of the 82nd Airborne, are putting their expertise to work to get much needed supplies to rural communities cut off by Hurricane Helene.
WRAL News was there Wednesday as crews were loading trucks and a C-130 cargo plane with items for delivery to rural areas.
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The supplies were loaded on airplanes and helicopters to be dropped to people who have no other way of receiving lifesaving supplies.
"We've got two generators, picks, shovels, 10 gas cans, chainsaws ... toilet paper, bottles of water and a few protein items. You've got hygiene items, and they're all in one handy sack, and we're just trying to get those out to people," Megan Ramsey, a small business owner, said.
Another volunteer, J.T. Stilwell, was trapped on Beech Mountain at a friend's wedding. When he returned to Moore County, he joined the operation at the airport. Many items are being trucked in as well.
"We've sent about six full truck loads, sometimes horse trailers," he said. "People just willing to pick up whatever it is they can to fill as much space as they have possible that their truck can withstand."
The Moore County Airport looked like a military operation as soldiers rigged bales of hay and other supplies with make-shift parachutes to be dropped to horses and livestock far from supplies.
Like any good military operation, they've adopted a slogan: Rebuild, Recover and Return.
Around 15,000 pounds of hay will be loaded onto a C-130 cargo plane for delivery to rural areas, where horses, cows and other farm animals are in dire need of food.
People who want to contribute donations of their own can drop items at the Moore County Regional Airport in Carthage before noon on Friday, Oct. 4.
WRAL News also has a guide to how to help our western North Carolina neighbors.