TRAVERSE CITY — “Honestly, we sat there and said, all right, what can we do? And talk to some other organizations to see what was going on. They were still in the planning phases, knowing how disasters work. Time is of the essence. And we had the means and we had to go,” says Tracie Baise, Co-Owner Of Torchport Airpark.
Tracie and her husband Tim Baise have business connections in the Asheville area. Within 48 hours, they had a plane packed up and headed for North Carolina. Now, they have gotten the rest of the northern Michigan community involved with donations.
“We had some local friends that said, hey, why don’t you put it on the torch port page, the pilot community, you’re going to be flying it down there. And so, we did, and it’s just gone viral and we couldn’t be more excited of it,” explains Baise.
The original plan was to head down their once, but now with the overwhelming support, it may be 4 or 5 trips.
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Another donation drive is happening with a group of businesses around the region including Cherry Capital Ink.
“So it’s not only affecting our friends and family that we know down there, but it’s affecting everybody around there,” says Ryanne Draper, Cherry Capital Ink Manager.
Jacie and Jacob Hendrickson are from Cadillac, but their aunt lost everything in the hurricane. They are the ones heading up the drive getting businesses like The Truck Stop and Dark Side Studios involved.
They plan to take multiple trucks down to North Carolina.
“People have already dropped off donations for sweatshirts and coats and pots and pans and things that people would be able to use and just kind of necessities that you don’t even think about that we need on a daily basis,” say Draper.
Both drives are looking for donation’s of necessities such as medicine, medical devices like a glucose monitor, nonperishable food, pet food, and clothes.
“Just whatever you can. No amount is too small. If it’s a dollar toothbrush, that toothbrush will mean $1,000,000 to somebody else,” says Baise.
Donations for both drives will be happening throughout the week.
To find out how to donate to Torchport Airpark’s drive in Kewadin click here.
To find different locations around Northern Michigan to donate click here