Lebanon nurses collect donations for victims of Helene
They intend to drive a caravan of vehicles to deliver them on Dec. 13.
LEBANON, Tenn. (WSMV) - Two Midstate nurses are collecting items to donate to North Carolina victims of Hurricane Helene. They intend to drive a caravan of vehicles to deliver them on Dec. 13.
“It was literally apocalyptic,” explained Laura Marcum, a nurse for 25 years and the Patient Experience Coordinator for Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital.
On Nov. 15, Marcum went to North Carolina to tour the damage and came home with a plan to collect donations.
“I’ve never been moved like this before,” Marcum said. “My heart was so touched by the kindness and the amount of joy that they had even though they had nothing - and they were hungry.”
Marcum teamed up with fellow nurse Shelby Isbell, the hospital’s Director of Specialty Services. They’re now collecting supplies to caravan to hard-hit places like Swannanoa, Bat Cave, Ennice and Asheville.
They set up an Amazon Wishlist for the requested gifts and a GoFundMe page for cash donations.
“We have generators on the list. We have a lot of warm clothes like coats, socks, hats - anything to keep people warm for the winter; backpacks so that people can actually have something to hold their belongings in,” says Isbell.
The team is accepting donations through Dec. 10.
People can reach out to Shelby Isbell via phone at 615-517-6219 or Laura Marcum at 615-604-5560 to schedule an in-person delivery.
“We’re small time we’re just nurses out here trying to do our best and the fact that you’re covering it means so much to us,” says Marcum.
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