Helping Anyone Is Good

This weekend I felt very inadequate about the disaster in Western NC. I know Tennessee, Florida and Georgia were also hurting, but my North Carolina took a big hard hit. I am not a first responder, not a lineman, can’t remove debris, drive a truck full of supplies, or hike a mountain and find people’s loved ones.

What I did instead was stay home and cook for my beloved friend Holley who has ALS. She has been dealing with it for a while now and really needs all the calories she can get. This also means her family needs food too as they have their hands full.

Holley can’t eat solids, but they can purée anything so she can at least taste it as it is going down in liquid form. She told me she has been craving cheese burger casserole like 1970’s Hamburger Helper. So I made up a big batch. I packed it with cheese and 20% fat hamburger, pasta and heavy cream and more cheese. If anything can help put calories in Holley’s tiny little body this can.

I got a chance to spend time with her tonight. She had beautiful eyelashes and just ignore the indentation marks her breathing mask left, she is so gorgeous. Holley might not be able to speak, but she can type and we had a great conversation. Her husband Paul and oldest daughter Penn and a young family friend from Alabama were all there with us. They had red wine vinegar chicken with rice and cole slaw and some cinnamon blondies. I also brought cheddar broccoli soup so Holley could eat that for lunch.

I may not have been able to help the people affected by Helene, but helping Holley and Paul was still helping. And that is what I needed to do. It helped me feel better.

If you feel called to help hurricane victims Red Cross, or Samaritans Purse, the Food Bank or search the state Attorney General’s office website for approved charities. But you can also help people in your own town who need help. The problem with huge natural disasters is then sometimes local charities lose out. The best thing you can do is anything that is helping others.

We are going to be in this for the long haul. I remember after Katrinia our church was doing recovery work in the gulf for months after the storm. Don’t burn out. Just start and help.

I can cook for Holley and do something for Western NC. It’s all good.