In September 2024 Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and continued to move inland. By the time it reached the mountains of western North Carolina, it had weakened to a tropical storm. It hovered over the region, dropping record-breaking amounts of rain. This caused flooded rivers and devastating mudslides, affecting thousands of people who were not expecting or prepared that level of impact.
For Rachel Casto, who lives in northern Ohio and attends Western Reserve Grace Church, the storm damage carried a personal weight to it. Just a month prior to the storm she had been in the area attending her brother’s wedding and visiting family. When she heard of the storm, she reached out to her father and stepmother who confirmed they were ok, but the area had been hit hard. “Seeing the photos of the damage and hearing the stories from it just felt so relevant to me because we had just been there,” Rachel said.
“Over the weekend I just kept praying and asking my husband, ‘How can we help?’” She and her husband felt called to do something, and landed on collecting donations and sending them to the impacted area. “It all started with a prayer,” she said. Though they had no formal plans yet, God had pressed on their hearts to start moving.
Western Reserve put out a call for donations, Rachel posted on her own social media, and they spread the word at her kids’ school. The church offered to loan them a trailer, and they decided to transport the donations themselves. They quickly received an overwhelming amount of donations. The church lobby was filled with items, and they called in more people to help sort and pack items for transportation. “One of the best parts was just seeing how people showed up for us and this cause we cared about,” Rachel said.
They had enough donations to make two trips to western North Carolina. Rachel searched online for churches in the area and ended up connecting with one who would receive and help disperse the donated items. After making arrangements, Rachel found out it was the church where her dad attended and was a volunteer site for Samaritan’s Purse relief efforts. Rachel also connected with a pharmacist from a nonprofit to see if they could use donated insulin. Rachel said, “When I called her, she immediately started crying. Because they lost power in the storm, they lost all of their insulin they provide to lower-income patients. They were able to use all of the insulin that was donated to us.”
Rachel and her husband made the trip to western North Carolina two weeks after the storm to drop off supplies. Six weeks later, they made another trip with a second trailer full of items. On that trip they were able to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, alongside their family, to help muck out a house.
Since the storm, Samaritan’s Purse has been actively serving the area. Rachel said immediately after the storm it was an “all hands on deck” situation, and the organization has continued to meet needs in the nearly six months since. They have mucked out houses, removed water-damaged drywall, eradicated mold, and installed new drywall in many houses. They also have provided campers, mobile homes, and temporary housing during the process.
“We are just normal people with no experience in this. We were just trying to be faithful to something small that God called us to do,” she said. “He figured out the rest and met our needs in so many cool and specific ways. It’s blessed us big time.”
