Manning native collects for Helene victims

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
A Manning native saw the devastation from Hurricane Helene affecting his neighbors in Tennessee and neighboring states in late September and wondered how he could help. A web developer working in Sevierville, Tennessee, Kaden McLaws explained he lives “on the very edge of where Hurricane Helene devastated this area.”

The Manning native said he and his family were without electricity for two hours and roadways heading into Sevierville were covered for four to five hours.

“In short, it was nothing major,” he said, noting residents in the Smoky Mountains were greatly affected. “As that was happening, that’s when the worst happened up over in those mountains, in those valleys and the communities up there.”

McLaws and wife, Rebecca, were following social media reports from those living in remote areas in the mountains.

“We were very aware and keeping track of what was happening on social media and realizing this is what it feels like … just over into the next town and the next county over,” he recalled, noting the news was troubling. “People were going to be displaced from this and flooded out of their homes.”

The Manning native said he was following news reports including small groups of people stranded in various mountain towns. The locals took matters into their own hands and began establishing distribution centers at large churches and even the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.

Requests for donations, he said, were for “immediate needs – food, water, hygiene necessities, portable power banks, dog food and cat food … the things you take for granted until you don’t have them.”

A well-known musician soon provided an avenue for McLaws to make a big impact upon the recovery effort with his digital skills.

“I was participating in quickly helping to stand up the Mountain Ways Foundation website. That’s the non-profit organization that Dolly Parton was making a personal $1 million contribution,” McLaws said, explaining that Parton was encouraging companies, friends and neighbors to match her gift to help those affected.

McLaws worked on the website to raise funds matching Dolly Parton's gift for flood relief.He had to ensure the website was uploaded and prepared for “the wave of traffic that was about to hit as Dolly was ready to make that announcement.” The site was ready and numerous donations were made though the site’s donation button.

Not able to serve as a “boots on the ground kind of guy,” for the effort, McLaws said he was so inspired by the generosity of Parton and the website donors that he turned to his background and his hometown for additional help.

“I like service projects. I was an Eagle Scout and my parents were very involved and still involved in Boy Scouts,” McLaws said, noting that his parents, Dr. Doug and Tiffany McLaws of Sacred Heart Church, raised him to have the drive to serve others.

Collection bins sprung up at the Manning Regional Health Care Center, Sacred Heart Church in Manning and the Manning Northwestern Mutual office. The church’s social media post shared McLaws’ request for items to be collected through Oct. 18 and the Manning native and his family would drive the donations back to Tennessee after visiting family.
“I figured I have the vehicle and I can haul back a U-Haul with contributions to the effort of helping people get the things they need,” McLaws said.

He plans to create an inventory of the donations from his hometown in order to streamline the drop off of items to a distribution center in Tennessee when he returns home.
“I think our small town communities are strong and incredibly giving from small town citizens to other American small town citizens,” he said. “We can give help and relief to these people that are facing just unimaginable hardship.”  

Mountain Ways Foundation website
Catholic Charities USA hurricane relief fund