Columbus Municipal Airport is serving as a staging area for volunteer aircraft carrying relief supplies bound for Asheville, North Carolina. Hurricane Helene’s devastation prompted these initiatives.
J.R. Grounds of the Civilian Crisis Response Team, based in Indiana, is organizing the endeavor. Grounds used social media to encourage local pilots to offer their time and personal aircraft for the operation.
“I was hoping to get two or three,” Grounds remarked.
To his astonishment, the reaction was enormous.
“My head is spinning,” he said.
So far, 75 pilots have offered their support.
“We actually have pilots in Dayton, Ohio. We have a few pilots in Pennsylvania who are eager to help,” Grounds added.
One of the volunteer pilots, John Freas, is bringing 900 pounds of donated supplies, such as canned food and toilet paper. He will deliver the goods to individuals in need by helicopter once he arrives in Ashville.
“To be honest, any reason to fly is nice, but this is an opportunity for me to assist someone,” Freas stated.Brian Payne, the airport’s director, is not shocked by the outpouring of support. He is assisting with logistics and refueling at Indiana’s fourth-largest airport.
“The aviation community is quite charitable. And the opportunities to give back to individuals outside of our community are surely not surprising,” Payne added.
Grounds describes the response as both encouraging and overwhelming.
You realize there are so many good people who want to help. And if you simply give them a means to help, they will stand up and do it,” he remarked.
