JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville catering company is one of several local organizations trying to be a bright light in a dark situation for Hurricane Helene victims.
“We give it away. We gave away 2,000 meals if not more,” said Matt Lennon, owner of Harry Hood Catering.
That amount was as of Wednesday night. The number is growing.
Lennon and his team with Harry Hood Catering are in Asheville, North Carolina feeding anyone who needs a meal.
“We’re at the Innsbruck Mall over up at Tunnel Road, and we have set up a field tent. That’s what we do for a living,” he said.
He has gone from catering events to catering to the needs of whatever people in Asheville are lacking.
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“We smoked a ton of half chickens, so he quartered them up, put them in trays, and we’re like, here’s 100 meals,” Lennon said.
The flooding in Asheville is devastating. He shared a few pictures of what he had seen but it is only a snapshot of the horrendous flooding that has sunk homes, battered bridges and killed more than 200 people.
When Lennon’s crew started getting their hands dirty, they realized just how desperate the situation was.
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“If you’re close to where the river rose and where the rapids are it’s so bad. Because there are bodies where there’s just normally not. Some of the deaths and destruction that’s going on. It is just really bad,” he said.
He and so many others were doing their best to bring good out of a bad situation, even if its feeding thousands of hungry people. Lennon said this is largely thanks to donations from people who wanted to step up and help.
“I’ve seen $6 donations come through because I told everybody. Hey, buck 50, get you a meal. So, I’ve seen $50, I’ve seen $200. The food truck community, shout out to all my brothers back there. Man, they all donated to us. Terry, from Tremendous, had a bunch of money come in. I mean I have not even been able to look lately, but I’m almost positive we’re up over $12,000 in in donations,” he said.
He is not alone, there are so many other organizations lending a hand to those in need.
He and the owner of Angie’s Subs have also been going back and forth between donating food and needed supplies.
Their goal is to give it all away.
“Friday is our last day here,” Lennon said. “We’re going to actually do three services for a new breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we’re going to try and just get it in as much as we can. But, you know, I told the guy, I told the staff, ‘Listen, don’t say no to these people, whatever they need, whatever they want, whatever we can give them. Let’s give it to them,’” Lennon said.