One year after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, Asheville-based Earth Fare executives say the storm tested both the company and the community – and revealed the strength of partnerships forged during crises.
Laurie Aker, director of marketing, described the experience as “literally like we were in ‘The Walking Dead.’ There was absolutely no communication.”
Aker, who lives in Asheville, recalled that by the time the storm hit on Friday, Sept. 27, “The power went out, and we saw trees outside of our window – it’s almost like when you watch The Weather Channel, the hurricanes in Florida, those palm trees that lay way back. Just imagine a huge, 200-foot oak tree doing that.”
She said she and her family were trapped for days in their home. “By Sunday, we were out of milk and diapers, and we couldn’t leave our property because two huge trees, probably four feet thick, fell on our driveway, and we couldn’t get our car out … It’s scary when you call 911 and there’s no 911. You don’t have social media, you don’t have the news, you don’t have any communication. We were thinking, ‘What is going on? Why is no one coming to help?’”
Once they were able to leave their property, Aker said she saw the full scale of the destruction. “We had no idea. The water was up 30 feet. There were buildings gone, homes washed away. It looked like a complete war zone.”
Aker and her family traveled to stay with relatives in Columbia, South Carolina. She and her husband, who also works for Earth Fare, drove daily to Asheville to support company operations and help with providing aid to community members.
Feeding community in need
Earth Fare quickly became a hub for relief efforts. “We held a food drive several days after the storm hit, and to my knowledge, we were the first to do a large-scale food drive in Asheville, right in our parking lot,” Aker said. 
“Inland Foods [an Earth Fare distributor] drove a huge semi-truck with half a million dollars’ worth of food. We gave away 10,000 meals that day. It made national news. We had a line all the way to the back of the interstate … we had about 100 volunteers.”
She noted that several of Earth Fare’s brokers and vendor partners provided donations after the store was back in operation, allowing needed supplies to go out several times a week in the months immediately following the storm.
Bret Wheatley, director of IT and data governance, described the relief effort from his perspective: “Taking a break between all of that cleanup and trauma that a lot of people felt, to help the community by giving out free food … we just decided to open the doors and bring out all the food and water we had on the shelf, because people were in need.
“There were just lines wrapped up. We hightailed it with shopping carts full of food, just making sure everyone who was in line had something to eat.”
Earth Fare’s technology partnerships helped maintain operations during widespread outages.
“When Hurricane Helene brought widespread internet and cellular outages to many of our stores, other retailers were forced to go cash-only, making it harder for families to get the essentials they needed most,” Wheatley said. “Because of our close partnership with ECRS and the strength of their technology, Earth Fare’s systems stayed up and running.
“We are deeply grateful that we could continue processing card payments and provide our neighbors with fresh food, clean water and household necessities. Being there for our communities in such a difficult moment was not just our duty – it was a privilege – and a reminder of what partnership and reliability truly mean.”
Aker added, “In the midst of all that chaos, our partnership with ECRS just proved to be an absolute lifeline for us. The team there … really helping us to pivot to backup protocols that allowed us to reopen our stores and keep our stores running faster than we ever could have imagined.
“It was really a beacon of normalcy, if you will, for customers who were already reeling. We kept our shelves stocked with the essentials. We supported relief efforts right from our aisles. We maintained jobs for our team members when everything else just felt so uncertain.”
She said it wasn’t just about the technology support from ECRS but also “the human element, the quick calls, the proactive guidance and the shared understanding of what it means to rally for Asheville.”
“Relationships like ours are the backbone of resilience in times of crisis, and we truly value how ECRs has helped us keep the business humming, even when the storm tried to shut us down.”
A year later – progress, remembrance
Aker said the region is settling into a “new normal” one year later.
“The downtown area … they are back up and running for the most part. Some businesses were not able to come back. But a good majority of them were – small restaurants, bars, things of that nature, on the outskirts of town.” 
Wheatley added, “Chimney Rock, they’ve built back a lot, but there’s still a lot of work to do there. But the community is definitely helping out there as well.”
Earth Fare hosted a quilt drive, with quilts donated from people around the world to go to Asheville residents.
“They were able to come to the Earth Fare store last November, because some people still didn’t have heat in their homes, months later,” Aker said. “We had quilts from Ireland and Scotland and quilts from different parts of the nation, and we actually had kids making quilts. It was really a beautiful event.”
Earth Fare also raised funds for team members who lost their homes, cars or were otherwise displaced by the flooding, raising more than $40,000. Aker said the grocer continues to help those affected by the storm.
Earth Fare held an Oktoberfest celebration Oct. 4 at all of its locations. In Asheville, local vendors and artists who had been affected by Helene were invited to sell their goods and share their work.
The Oktoberfest event was designed to foster community spirit and bring people together for a day of celebration, gratitude and fun and “served as a heartfelt thank-you to the community for their continued support,” Aker said. “In addition to creating a festive atmosphere, the event held special significance in Asheville as a moment of reflection and resilience.
“Marking one year since Hurricane Helene brought devastation to the region, Earth Fare’s Oktoberfest provided an opportunity for the community to come together, honor those affected and celebrate recovery and unity through shared experiences and wholesome goodies.
“That’s just another example of how the giving back just continues a year later.”
Reflecting on the storm, Aker emphasized preparedness and community. She said Earth Fare’s No. 1 priority following the hurricane was to account for team members.
“They had property damage, but they were all safe. That’s the very first thing we did once we could communicate with the outside world.
“This was a one-in-500-years’ storm. Who would have thought a hurricane would hit the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains? We definitely have a procedure to make sure our team members are safe … it was a learning experience.”
Wheatley added he was thankful for the technology that kept the stores operating, “even though networks were down, cellular was down. It’s not only for the Earth Fare side; it was the ability to be able to provide for the community, which was the most important for us.”
[RELATED: ECRS Reflects On Hurricane Helene Response One Year Later]