LEBANON, Ohio — A handful of bags may not amount to much, but when a handful is added to another handful, a little starts to go a long way.
It's a mantra Abe Levatter repeated all week as he loaded up a small aircraft with supplies to deliver to western North Carolina communities devastated by storms brought by remnants of Hurricane Helene.
"A plane full of stuff is just a little bit, but there's a whole lot of people doing this," he said.
Levatter is a local pilot and member of the nonprofit flying club The Flying Neutrons, which operates out of the Warren County Airport in Lebanon. When videos of devastation in Appalachia started to surface on social media, Levatter said his daughter asked if he could use the flying club's resources to help.
He saw the need, agreed and called the club's vice president, Steve Rumsey, to discuss a game plan.
"He said, 'I'm all in,' so we went and loaded up a bunch of stuff and flew it out there on Tuesday," Levatter said. "We talked to a lot of people on the ground and I'll tell you what, there's a lot of stories that will just break your heart, so it felt good to try and help."
The group has been monitoring updates from Operation Airdrop, a volunteer-based hurricane disaster relief organization. Earlier in the week, the list of needs included staple items like water, food and toiletries. The Flying Neutrons pitched in to purchase supplies.
As recovery efforts continue, that list of needs has become more specific.
"The first time they said they needed powdered baby formula so we took a bunch of that down, but some areas don't even have clean water so they were asking for premixed baby formula, so now we got some of that," Levatter said.
He joined other pilots Thursday for another trip. This time four planes took off with goods donated by Procter & Gamble and Matthew 25: Ministries included in the haul.
"It's great to see everybody willing to come out and help and the airport's helping us with fuel and whatnot so it's very costly to fly these planes — this is all coming out of our pockets — and donations for supplies. It's just great to see that we're doing what little we can to help out down there," Rumsey said.
Rumsey was in Charlotte for work when storms tore through the region. With feet of rainfall and mass evacuations, he thought he'd be grounded throughout the weekend. Rumsey said, thankfully, he was able to fly and return home.
"Lots of prayers and by some miracle we got off the ground and got home safely so I could get back and do this," he said. "God works in mysterious ways."
Rumsey wasn't planning on flying out Thursday, but with four pallets of supplies sitting inside the club's hangar, he said he knew he had to load up his plane to get the bags to people in need.
"I want to do more. I'd like to be on the ground down there," Rumsey said. "Of course, we've got commitments and responsibilities here but this is the least we can do and it is very fulfilling and satisfying to know we're helping in some small way for those people. Some of them lost everything."
The club members aren't the only ones lending their wings to the mission. Local independent pilots, including John Quimby with Pilots and Paws, are also making the trip down to Appalachia and others are encouraged to do the same.
While no more trips are planned this week, Rumsey said if more donations come in, he'll find ways to deliver supplies if they are needed.
The group touched down at a drop zone near Charlotte Thursday afternoon. Levatter said they had to circle in the air for a while before landing because the area was overwhelmed by planes manned by pilots from across the country delivering their own loads of supplies.
"I'm really, really proud of being part of this club where all I've got to do is call one guy and he says, 'Oh, I'm all in, let's go.' So everybody's like, 'Yeah, let's go,'" said Levatter. "And that's that. Away we go."
