Hurricane Helene showed Augusta its worst, but brought out the best in many residents who were celebrated Saturday at a Helene Heroes event.
More than 60 who stepped up and were nominated, from first responders to business owners to ordinary citizens, were honored with an afternoon of festivities put on by the City Hope Alliance and sponsors at the Augusta Common.
Former Mayor Deke Copenhaver said at the event the community reaction to the storm’s destruction showed Augusta’s grassroots ability to come together.
“After a storm, after a divisive political campaign, what do we do in Augusta? We come together. We don’t let anything tear us apart because we are all in this together. We love our neighbors. We’ve got each other’s back,” Copenhaver said.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson said it was in order to take time to thank those first responders and everyone else who “had their hands to the plow” getting Augusta back in business after the storm.
“I think what we saw the most out of this whole process is how strong Augusta is when we have to band together and make our community stronger. We saw folks from first responders to first graders trying to come together to help Augusta be the best it can possibly be, whether that was delivering food or clearing debris. Augusta showed up and we showed out and it speaks to the strength of our community,” Johnson said.
The event grew out of the cancellation of City Hope Augusta’s Oct. 5 CityServe service project due to the storm, said Executive Director Luke Niday.
“During that time there’s tons of service going on throughout the city,” he said. “We said we need to celebrate the heroes who are doing all that service.”
Who was honored?
More than 60 were nominated, from restaurateurs and first responders to city employees and ordinary citizens. Here’s a sample of Hurricane Helene Heroes:
- Todd Schaefer – The owner of Abel Brown, Schaefer helped those in his own neighborhood then began distributing free ice, some 12,000 pounds, through his restaurant, then partnered with the Sand Hills Community Center to prepare meals for the community.
- Lt. Inocencio Toro – This Augusta firefighter’s home was about 65% destroyed, and his wife was more than seven months pregnant, but he arrived at work “ready to serve the citizens of Augusta with great zeal and effort,” accepting every assignment with a smile and performing at a high level.
- Crystal Eskola – As deputy Augusta Animal Services director, Eskola worked tirelessly to secure pet food and supplies during the recovery period for the Augusta community and beyond from regional and national companies, rescue organizations and more.
- El Rey Group – They set up their food truck to feed linemen and first responders, drove around the community and to nursing homes to hand out water and sent supplies to those in need in North Carolina.
- Renata Hill – She worked long hours to coordinate a delivery of supplies from Atlanta, working tirelessly to unload and organize the shipment and coordinated with volunteers to bag items and make sure they reached citizens in need.
Learn more about the Hurricane Helene Heroes on CityServe Augusta’s Instagram:
