NATCHEZ — The Miss-Lou community stepped up in a big way in collecting money and supplies for relief for the Hurricane Helene ravaged community of Lansing, North Carolina.

Residents here adopted the Lansing community, which is a particularly hard-hit area of western North Carolina. That area does not have access to the relief funds and supplies that are available to other, larger North Carolina cities like Asheville.

Items from the relief effort, which was spearheaded by the staff of Listen Up Y’all Media with the assistance of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, the City of Natchez and The Natchez Democrat, were loaded into two 20-foot trailers on Saturday morning.

Margaret Perkins, president and CEO of Listen Up Y’all Media, said another 35-foot trailer would be loaded next week.

From Tuesday through Friday, community members brought supplies to Total Storage on John R. Junkin Drive where they were stored until Saturday morning, and donated cash to the effort.

“This hurricane relief drive was so successful. We had two 20-foot trailers loaded to leave out on Sunday morning. There will be another 35-foot trailer leaving out on Tuesday morning,” Perkins said.

“We are still accepting monetary donations. Checks can be made out to the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce with a note on the check that it’s for Hurricane Relief. Or funds can be sent via Venmo to @natchezchamber,” she said.

Perkins said once again the generosity of the Miss-Lou community shined through.

“Thank you to the people of the Miss-Lou. They always show up and show out. We have one of the most giving communities,” she said. “Between the two 20-foot trailers and the 35-foot trailer, these supplies we are delivering to North Carolina are basically the equivalent of a semi-trailer. And I’m telling you, these trailers Saturday morning were filled to the gills. Nothing else was going in either of them.”

Miss-Lou residents have donated the trucks, trailers, and their time to make the 12-hour, one-way drive to deliver the supplies to Lansing.

Approximately 1,000 individuals and businesses donated either money or supplies to the relief effort.

“We are so grateful to this community for trusting us to deliver these donations to the right people at the right time,” Perkins said.

The monetary donations will go to the Greater Lansing Area Development non-profit, which is working to rebuild the community.

Perkins said the Lansing contact for the donations is “blown away at the generosity of the people of Natchez and the Miss-Lou. We have sent her pictures and they are just blown away,” she said.