Where do I begin to tell this story? Because it’s a lot. And it’s about history made recently, not in the past.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a thought. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helen’s destruction in southern Appalachia, we all saw what communities coming together can do. Donations and help poured in. It will be ongoing, for months. Keep it up.

Cloudland Elementary Principal Scott Potter with CHS teaching assistant Abbe Evans. Photo by Beth Kinnane

But I thought of the kids, many of whom have lost everything, or even if they didn’t, lack of power, water and, in some cases, vital infrastructure, were keeping parents from working and funds thin. The aid coming in is all for maintaining basic needs as we’re heading into the most kid-centric season of the year. So, I thought, how about get some Halloween candy for some kids, somewhere? In the midst of canned goods, bottled water, socks and underwear, something fun?

My dear friend, Abbe Evans, a special education teaching assistant at Central High School, grabbed my thought by the horns and ran with it. Boxes and boxes were delivered to Central, and, in just a matter of days, her students and the staff she works with got it all bagged up. Roughly 20,000 pieces of candy of all sorts, divvied up 20 pieces per bag for the students and staff at Hampton Elementary School in Hampton and Cloudland Elementary School in Roan Mountain, both in Carter County.

Not only was it a gift for the students and staff of these schools, it was also an exercise in community, planning, cooperation, and task completion for her students. After loading up Abbe’s car Wednesday morning, I thanked and applauded all of them for a job well done. And off we went to Carter County.

I have written in several of my stories since the disaster that anyone wanting to help to be sure they were being a help and not a hindrance. There’s a fine line between being useful and just in the way. I kept this in mind as we headed out to upper East Tennessee.

Once we started getting into Hampton, the ride was very much a series of how cute, how pretty followed by OH MY GOD did you see that??! We’re nearly five weeks post-Helene. At first glance, driving by, things look fairly normal. Until you see a debris pile the size of a football field, the fallen trees laid out like collapsed buttresses in a cathedral, the scars from landslides, the trash still hanging from trees or caught in rivers and streams. There’s the rock fields, for lack of a better term, left behind once the waters receded back to the their normal confines. And the dirt, the dried up, silty deposits left behind, everywhere. And the squish. I was walking through a yard in Hampton that felt like a sponge, it was still holding so much water. And the high-water lines, on buildings, on trees, on a she-shed knocked six feet off its original location. At least it didn’t float away.

The mural at Cloudland Elementary School in Roan Mountain. Photo by Beth Kinnane

I took lots of pictures, but none of them can convey the reality of seeing it. I can’t imagine what it was like in the immediate aftermath. I liken it to seeing the pictures and videos from the horrors of 9/11, then seeing Ground Zero with my own eyes six weeks after the fact. There is no comparison.

Having said that, I do not encourage anyone to go be a Looky-Loo. If you don’t have a specified purpose for being there, don’t go. The further you go into where greater damage is, the more you are in the way.

Thank you to everyone who donated to help us make this happen for the students at these two schools. Carter County Schools (with the exception of Hampton High School, which was pretty much destroyed), just returned to classes this week. These communities will need our support for a long time to come.

The best resource to get lined up for service is with Volunteer Tennessee by going here. The link includes signups to volunteer as well as donation locations in each of the affected counties and other resources.

Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.