Local Hurricane Helene relief effort creates ‘outlet for desire to give and to help’

Kevin Becht, left, helps load a truck as part of a Hurricane Helene relief effort coordinated by his wife Tammy Becht, right, on Oct. 15 at St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyd County, where the Bechts are members. (Submitted photo)

By Natalie Hoefer

Tammy Becht has a compassionate heart.

“When others suffer, I suffer, and I can’t just do nothing,” says the member of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyd County.

That compassion was stirred in late September by the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene—and fueled by having two nieces and a brother impacted.

Unable to “just do nothing,” Becht launched a relief drive for the victims in mid-October, with collection points at her parish and at Mount St. Francis Center for Spirituality in Mt. St. Francis (as well as a parish in Louisville, Ky.).

The items are destined for drop-off sites through Catholic Charities for the dioceses of Raleigh, N.C., and Knoxville, Tenn., and to a relief-networked Baptist church in Augusta, Ga.

One truckload has already been delivered, and two more trucks were expected to depart on Oct. 23 or 24.

This relief effort is not Becht’s first. Her experience reaches back to 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina—and the cry for help from a new friend.

God enables us ‘if we feel called to help’

Becht, then coordinator of youth and young adult ministries at St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, and her daughter Jami Ogle started a Catholic HEART Workcamp—a service-oriented, faith-building experience for youths—near New Albany in 2004.

“There was a youth minister from Baton Rouge [in Louisiana] who brought a group of kids” to the 2005 camp, Becht recalls. “We just hit it off and became friends.”

Four days after the workcamp ended, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana on Aug. 29.

“I called my friend to see how she was doing,” says Becht. “She said, ‘We need everything!’

“Six days after the storm hit, we were in Baton Rouge with a truckful of items people from St. Mary-of-the-Knobs donated.

“We kept collecting and ended up making four trips to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. … So, that’s how I learned to coordinate relief efforts.”

Becht put her compassion and experience to work again seven years later when two tornadoes devastated Henryville and other areas of southern Indiana in March 2012.

Reflecting on her relief efforts in response to Hurricane Katrina, “I realized how much power we have as a faith community to be able to reach out to other people,” Becht said in a March 9, 2012, Criterion article. “It doesn’t matter if they’re in our backyard or not. If we feel called to help in some way, then God is going to enable us to be able to do something with it if we’re faithful to it.”

Moved to action and armed with experience, she helped organize a team of about 50 volunteers from throughout the New Albany Deanery.

She also worked closely with archdiocesan disaster preparedness and response coordinator Jane Crady in helping with the relief efforts.

“Jane and I did whatever we could,” she says.

‘An outlet for the desire to give and to help’

Twelve years have now passed since Becht’s efforts in Henryville. She finished a 12-year career as youth and young adult minister at St. Mary-of-the-Knobs in 2011, and in 2013 became director of Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology’s One Bread One Cup youth and young adult liturgical formation program in St. Meinrad. Becht retired from that role in October 2022.

But she hasn’t slowed down. Now in her early 60s, Becht is busy with several boards and faith-based projects—and enjoying her nine grandchildren.

After Hurricane Helene struck six southeastern states on Sept. 26-29, Becht once again couldn’t “just do nothing.”

“One constant I’ve seen after catastrophes like this is that people who aren’t affected physically have a desire to help,” says Becht. “And with no outlet, they’re frustrated. By organizing relief efforts, I can create an outlet for the desire to give and to help.”

But this time when her heart said to leap into action, Becht did something she says is unusual for her—she asked God first.

“I was really proud I was able to pray about it before just doing it!” she says with a laugh. “When I was younger, I would just jump in and do it.

“But I’ve learned the gift of discernment over the years in doing these types of things. And I needed the Lord to tell me this is what he wanted.

“I said, ‘Lord, I’m 20 years older [than when she coordinated Hurricane Katrina relief efforts]. If this really is from you, please help doors to be open when I knock.’ And they did.”

‘Some people are literally living outside’

Through a friend, she was put in touch with the director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Knoxville.

“When I asked if they could use more donations, he said, ‘Bring it!’ ” says Becht.

She also reached out to the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C.—which is collecting and distributing relief items to the Knoxville Diocese and the Diocese of Charlotte, N.C.—and to Sweetwater Baptist Church in Thomas, Ga., which is coordinating relief for Augusta, Ga., and other hurricane-hit areas.

“I have two nieces who live in Augusta,” says Becht. “You don’t hear about Augusta much in the news, but it was decimated. One of my nieces said they were without power for two weeks.”

St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, Mount St. Francis Center for Spirituality and St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Louisville, in the Archdiocese of Louisville, agreed to serve as donation sites. They began accepting items on Friday, Oct. 11.

“By the next Thursday, we had already delivered a truckload” to a designated drop-off site in Johnson City, Tenn., for Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, says Becht.

Requested items varied from cleaning supplies to camping gear.

“The Diocese of Raleigh had a pretty specific list,” Becht explains. “They needed toiletries, underwear, socks, hats, gloves and coats—but no other clothes. They also asked for tarps, generators, camp stoves, grills, charcoal, sleeping bags, tents and portable heaters.

“In the mountains, the mudslides and rockslides have completely washed away homes and roads. Some people are literally living outside because there are no hotels available.”

‘Everybody giving something’

The effort has become a bit of a family affair, with the trucks and truck drivers provided for free by a trucking company owned by Becht’s nephews, Jonathan and David Cooper, members of St. Mary Parish in Lanesville.

“Because we don’t have to pay for transportation, everything donated goes directly to the people in need,” she says.

As for her husband Kevin, Becht says he is the “unsung hero” behind the effort.

“I asked my husband, ‘Are you in? Because if you have doubts, I can’t do this without you. If you’re in, I’m going to push the button,’ ” she recalls. Her voice breaks, and she pauses before continuing: “He said, ‘Haven’t I always been with you?’ He really is the unsung hero in all this.”

And then there is the community who answered the call to donate items, equipment, funds and time. Becht calls the response “overwhelming.”

“What’s really great about this [effort] is everybody giving something,” she says. “This can’t be just my thing, just one person’s thing.”

Melanie Hartlage says that “people have been so generous.” As facilities manager at St. Mary-of-the-Knobs, she is working with Becht to coordinate efforts at the parish.

“Volunteers just show up,” says Hartlage. “It takes three to four people to sort items before they can be loaded in the truck, and people still dressed in their church clothes after Mass last Sunday just pitched in to help.”

Becht particularly notes help given by students of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs School, who helped pack items and load the truck that went to Johnson City.

“They were amazing,” says Becht. “They got to see the help from the community and put their hands on the gifts being sent. I was so grateful for that interaction.”

Mount St. Francis has also received “loads and loads of donations,” says Brie Schoen, office manager at the facility.

“So far, every time I’ve looked [at the collection area], there’s been a little more donated,” she says. “It’s pretty exciting to see that!”

‘How grateful they are—lots of smiles!’

As of Oct. 21, Becht estimated enough items had been received to send two more trucks on Oct. 23 or 24.

“One will go to Augusta, the other to Johnson City,” she says. “The trucks will be smaller, so they’ll be smaller loads. But they’ll cover a wider area of need.”

That need will continue well after the local effort ends.

“The need is going to exist for a long, long time, especially in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee,” says Becht. “Recovery, restoring people’s lives after a disaster like this takes years.”

As for how long the local effort will continue, that depends on the donations.

“It’s just how long will people continue to give,” she says. “I’m open to continuing deliveries if that’s what God wants and if the community supports it to help our brothers and sisters.”

The aid given so far through the local effort Becht organized is already appreciated.

Mike Perkins, who drove the first truckload of items to Johnson City, texted Becht from the delivery site: “They wanted me to pass the word of how grateful they are—lots of smiles!”
 

(For donation times and requested items, go to yoursmk.org and mountsaintfrancis.org/hurricane-relief-2024. Do NOT donate clothing except underwear, hats, gloves and winter coats. Items for adult incontinence and female hygiene are currently needed. Financial gifts can be made online at ccetn.org/donate.) †