Helping hands stretched across the country in the wake of Helene, holding on to western North Carolina. People stepped up in the immediate aftermath, giving whatever they could. But sometimes, if there are too many voices, you can’t hear what the people in need actually need in the moment.

The organized chaos of people helping forged the friendship of two people: Heather Oberg and Nicole Schoychid. They both had the same idea.

“I had contacts up there and Nicole said she saw me sitting there trying to do something,” Schoychid said.

Heather’s background in project management mixed with Nicole’s boots-on-the-ground communication spawned a website called Supporting WNC. It’s a dashboard that allows donation centers to list what they need and don’t need in real-time.

For more information, go to supportingwnc.com.

BALTIMORE — Businesses in Baltimore and Harford County are doing everything they can to help out victims of Hurricane Helene and Milton even from hundreds of miles away. 

More than a million Floridians are without power as they continue to clean up debris left behind by Hurricane Milton. Meanwhile, people in parts of North Carolina are still grappling with entire neighborhoods being decimated by Hurricane Helene.   

Things we sometimes take for granted such as clean drinking water, blankets, pantry items, and lights are things people in Western North Carolina never expected to lose when floodwaters from Hurricane Helene ravaged their communities. 

“The area of North Carolina, they didn’t evacuate, there was no plan in place for a hurricane…so the need there is probably going to be there for a long time, and we don’t want to forget about these people,” Erin Schlichting, Co-owner of Clean Cuisine said. 

Last week, the owners of Clean Cuisine in Owings Mills coordinated with Gourmet Girls in Pikesville to collect survival items for hurricane victims in North Carolina. 

They said as soon as they posted the flier, donations started stacking up. 

“People brought in generators and clothing and it’s just amazing,” Gerry Schlichting, Owner of Clean Cuisine said. “Pet food and diapers and car seats,” Erin said.  

Gerry informed WJZ that the restaurant already has enough to fill up a truck to send down to North Carolina this week. 

“They’re actually loading up a truck on Monday to take it down and then they’re coming back on Tuesday or Wednesday to load up another one,” he said. 

In Abingdon, Box Hill Pizzeria will start collecting essential items to fill their large box truck on Monday. The truck will go down to Florida, bringing much-needed supplies to families impacted by Hurricane Milton. 

“Just because it’s not a local community that needs help, it’s an extended community and I just wanted to be there to help people,” Nico Kanaras, a partner of Box Hill Pizzeria said. 

Box Hill is also donating 10% of sales to hurricane relief efforts. 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina wide receiver Tylee Craft died Saturday morning following a lengthy battle with cancer, the school announced.

Craft, 23, of Sumter, South Carolina, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer on March 14, 2022. The UNC community had rallied behind him with the #TyleeStrong hashtag since his diagnosis. He had undergone numerous treatments, but the cancer spread through his body and brain. Still, he had enrolled in graduate courses toward his master’s degree in applied professional studies and graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science/sports administration.

UNC honored Craft during Saturday’s football game against Georgia Tech. It also happened to be the team’s annual Cancer Awareness Game. Friends and family members wearing shirts bearing Craft’s name and number were recognized during an on-field ceremony.

Wide receiver J.J. Jones wore Craft’s jersey with his No. 13 and last name during the game. Additionally, the UNC men’s basketball team wore shirts bearing Craft’s name and number for its intrasquad scrimmage at the Smith Center following the football game and had a pre-scrimmage moment of silence in Craft’s honor.

“This young man fought so hard for his two and a half years,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “The doctors told us he outlived what he should’ve. And he did it with the spirit, he did it with a smile on his face, he didn’t miss a meeting, he didn’t miss practice, he coached these other incredible young people.”

Brown told reporters he didn’t learn of Craft’s death until after the game but sensed something had happened after sharing an emotional hug with Craft’s mother at the end of the first quarter.

“I think the family feels the love and they’ll continue to feel the love,” Brown said. “What we’ve got to do is be strong, and pray for strength for us as leaders, to help these guys on the field and off the field. … So more than ever before I have got to step up and be stronger for them and make sure that I can help them manage the stuff and move forward in their lives.”

Craft had been struggling with debilitating back pain, so UNC’s athletic training staff took him to the hospital in 2022 for more testing to determine the cause of it. That’s when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. He immediately began an aggressive treatment of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

According to UNC, when Craft was diagnosed, his family said doctors told them he was just weeks away from dying.

In 2022, Craft was recognized with the Disney Spirit Award, presented annually to college football’s most inspirational individual or team. He was also one of five college athletes named to the Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Team that year.

“Tylee meant so much to so many and affected us in ways we’ll always be thankful for,” the football program’s statement said. “He was 1-of-1 and, while he won’t be with us in body, he’ll be watching over us with his endearing smile and endless positivity.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.