North Carolinians rebuilding after Helene thankful for volunteers this Thanksgiving

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It will take years to rebuild after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, but survivors say this Thanksgiving, their gratitude goes out to all the volunteers helping their towns recover.

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00:00There will be nothing normal about Thanksgiving this year, but there's a lot to be thankful for.

00:08Just that people care enough and give of themselves to come to somewhere.

00:17They don't know who we are. They just know that we've been affected.

00:21And, you know, our street with our 25 houses is one of hundreds of neighborhoods in North

00:28Carolina and Tennessee right now that need the volunteers. Whether it's one or two people who

00:33email us and say, hey, we want to come and help, or a group that comes in and does major things

00:40in a house in a day. So grateful for the volunteer forces that have been in from churches and

00:47community groups. What are you the most thankful for that has happened in the last two months?

00:52My husband. He comes, he drives 30 minutes here every day, every morning, and every night to put

01:03gas in the generator and dry out my mother's house. My grandparents lived in this house. They

01:09worked in the blanket mill. My mother grew up in this house. And I don't know what I would do

01:19without my husband. And we have had a great community effort. We've gotten great volunteers.

01:26The residents know each other better. There's such a strong sense of community. And I can't

01:34imagine celebrating many things in life without these people moving forward. It's going to take

01:41years to rebuild what we have here. We cannot do it on our own. And we've certainly seen

01:48a dwindling in the volunteer efforts that have come and donations.

01:56But we still need those.

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