A truck load of supplies for victims of Hurricane Helen, accumulated by Vineyard residents on Sunday and loaded into a semi trailer, arrived in South Carolina on Friday for distribution to an estimated 1,000 people in need.
The effort was the inspiration of Ben Ferry, a 2009 graduate of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, living in McCormick County, South Carolina. Ferry, alongside a team of veterans and volunteers, coordinated the operation.
“This wasn’t me spearheading things,” said Ferry. “This was a giant team of veterans and their families, and volunteers that came together in under 7 days — from me putting out a Facebook calling for help from thousands of miles away.”
The delivery truck, owned by Carroll’s Martha’s Vineyard Rapid Transit, left the Island last week on the 5:30 am boat Thursday morning, and arrived in North Carolina that night. It then drove to McCormick High School, arriving at 9:30 Friday morning.
Ferry, alongside veterans, nurses, and volunteers, worked the entire day to break down, separate, and organize the supplies. Distribution began Friday evening, with people lining up an hour beforehand. Ferry said that in less than three hours, over 1,000 people were provided goods.
“We allowed five people in at a time to control the chaos,” said Ferry.
Volunteers helped families collect food, water, and other essential items, while nurses and EMTs—some of whom lost their homes in the storm—provided medical assistance and nutritional advice.
“People were literally hugging us because they got jugs of water,” said Ferry. “The thing we heard most was people worrying there are a lot of people worse off than them. Nobody was greedy; everyone was taking the bare minimum so they could survive. It was basically: ‘we will get through this together instead of stockpiling things’ and it was a moving thing to see everyone here and everyone from the Vineyard come together.”
In addition to the physical supplies, the team handed out $2,700 worth of gift cards for groceries stores in the area to buy fresh produce.
By the end of the night, nearly everything had been distributed, with only a few specialty items remaining like baby formula and diapers, said Ferry.
In an act of gratitude, a banner is being sent back to the Island to be hung in the American Legion building. The banner will be signed with the names of those helped in McCormick County to foster the connection between the two communities.
It was a privilege to bring some non-perishable items to those in need. Once again our island shows that we have heart.
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I just want to thank everyone again. The way our community came together and helped without question, was truly humbling.
What a wonderful story!
Thank you Kim Murphy and Linda Vadasz, all the other volunteers and veterans for all of your efforts and time. You all did an amazing job. Giving the donations was the easy part.
This was much needed support for our community and helped with the supplies as much as bringing us together did. Thank You MV!!
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