Illinois woman sends gifts to church, brightens holiday season in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina

PLAINFIELD, Ill. (CBS) — Like Chicago, parts of the Carolinas are dealing with colder-than-average weather—to the tune of 15 degrees below normal.

Down there, it is making a bad situation worse for people still displaced after Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of the Southeast more than two months ago.

But back in the Chicago suburbs, a woman named Terri Horwath has made it a mission to help brighten the hurricane victims’ holidays. She presented the idea to a church hundreds of miles away—and she is doing most of the work.

Horwath hopes this story will help others think of those who are not in an ideal place this holiday season.

On Sept. 28, Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina—wreaking havoc near Asheville.

“They were hit extremely hard,” said Mike Freeman, chairman of the Deacon Board at Enon Baptist Church in Marshall, North Carolina, “and our church became a distribution center for food, water, and any other aid we could give at that time.”

Enon Baptist Church has been helping people affected by the hurricane for months. And weeks ahead of Christmas, more help came in the form of enough wrapped gifts to fill up a church classroom.

The gifts came from Horwath, more than 600 miles away in Plainfield, Illinois.

“I grew up in Plainfield. I lived here when the F5 tornado came through, and it reminded me of that,” said Horwath, “and I know how people needed help and how people were every generous and came forward to help us.”

The tornado that hit Plainfield on Aug. 28, 1990, left 29 people dead. It destroyed 470 homes and damaged 1,000 buildings.

Having experienced that, Horwath wanted to do the same with others that people had done for her community back then.

So Horwath reached out to Enon Baptist Church in October. They only needed food and resources.

But then, Horwath had a thought.

“They’re still not going to be in homes. They may not have jobs. They’re still going to be inundated with their day-to-day that they’re going to need help with Christmas gifts,” Horwath said.

So Horwath coordinated with the pastor of the North Carolina church—who gave her wish lists from families in need.

“I then forwarded those wish lists to individuals they purchased items, and they directly sent them down to the church,” said Horwath.

The plan was to provide gifts for 60 families, but that demand has grown. And the fact that the gifts have made it to the church is all thanks To Horwath.

“I appreciate her, and I hope God blesses her,” said Freeman. “I know He is going to bless her immensely for what she has stepped up to do.”

Horwath hopes others will follow her example.

“So if you could help the kids to have a smile on Christmas morning, that’s what this is all about,” she said.

Horwath’s registry for gifts to send to North Carolina is set up through Walmart.