GREENVILLE, TN. – As communities in multiple states still grapple with the effects of Hurricane Helene, organizations and people are doing all they can to help. That includes Sayf Al-Ameri, a local Navy reservist based in Jacksonville.
Al-Ameri grew up in Greeneville, Tennessee, and was stunned to hear of the devastation near his hometown.
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“I woke up Saturday morning to what I thought was going to be a relaxing morning with my coffee turned into a lot of communities where I grew up being impacted,” Al-Ameri said. “Without homes.”
Though his family and the home he grew up in were safe, Al-Ameri knew he had to do something.
He made the journey back to Tennessee. Along with several others, including close friends, he gathered and dropped off donations. Those donations included generators, food, water, and much more. The memories came flooding.
“The dam where the highway bridge is, we used to go fish there all the time, we’d go play there,” Al-Ameri remembered. “Davy Crockett, we’d go camping and so, it’s like, these places just aren’t even there anymore. I saw where homes once stood. Friends of mine that I grew up, I knew their families, the farms that had been there, those are just gone too.”
During that whirlwind trip, Al-Ameri did everything he could think of to help in the time he was there. That’s why he’s planning to go back to Eastern Tennessee for a second donation trip. He plans to leave Friday.
“With my job in the Navy, every time I’ve been overseas doing stuff for other people, other countries and organizations, helping them out, doing search and rescues,” Al-Ameri recalled. “To be doing it here, now, so close to home, it’s different.”
To get the job done, Al-Ameri said more donations are needed. He’s asking for anyone who sees this story to help, if they can.
In addition to the basics like non-perishable food and water, some of the items he’s looking for include gasoline, propane, generators, clothes, pet food, and baby items.
Al-Ameri said though the impacted communities are resilient, no donation is too small in this time of need.
“You see people that are just dying of thirst and hunger, they have nothing,” Al-Ameri said. “They don’t have food, shelter. They can’t stay dry, let alone cook or take care of themselves. Every little thing helps, we’ll find a use for anything.”
Al-Ameri said one thing that is desperately going to be needed for this upcoming trip is a much larger vehicle to transport the donated items.
If this is something you can help with, or if you’d like to donate some of the above-mentioned items, you can contact Sayf Al-Ameri directly on Facebook.
You can also email Salameri92@gmail.com or text 423-620-2459.
Al-Ameri also has a GoFundMe page where you can donate.
