Atrium Health Floyd EMS Collects Stuffed Animals for Helene Victims

When the Chattooga County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) started sending items to help Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina, they began with obvious needs – water, food, clothing, and other necessities.

Atrium Health Floyd Emergency Medical Services teammates then realized another need when it came to children impacted by the disaster. They needed something comforting.

That’s when EMS decided to start collecting stuffed animals to help the little ones impacted by the massive storm. “Sometimes children just need something to hold to feel secure,” said Cristy Harris, Atrium Health Floyd EMS operations manager in Chattooga County. “There are kids sleeping away from their homes in unfamiliar areas. I felt like this was something we could do for them.”

Harris bought stuffed animals at the Walmart Supercenter in Trion, carrying three shopping carts to the Chattooga County Emergency Management Agency, which collected items for another shipment to Rutherford County, N.C. Nearly 200 stuffed animals had already been turned into EMA before Harris arrived.

Rutherford County, which includes the town of Chimney Rock, was hit hard by the storm. Three deaths were reported there, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.