The catastrophic flooding of 2022 left destruction in Eastern Kentucky, but it also left experience and a heart for those dealing with disasters. When Hurricane Helene hit parts of North Carolina and Tennessee, Letcher Countians felt the familiar pain had visited their neighbors and they were duty-bound to render aid and the educational message which Extension knows well.

The Letcher County Extension Office partnered with Childers Oil, Kentucky Farm Bureau, Meridzo Ministries, Letcher County Homemakers and others to lead a team to bring aid based upon the educational materials and recovery supplies that had been so needed by our own people two years before. Seventy-Two families contributed to the program. Flood-specific publications from the University of Kentucky and the University of Nebraska were especially pertinent, and those were taken and delivered in partnership with the University of Tennessee Extension agent in Johnson County TN as well as local citizens and the National Guard. As impacted victims came for disaster aid, they were provided educational materials on flood recovery specific to homes, farms and businesses.

Over 4644 flood-impacted families in the Mountain City TN area benefitted from the program.

As a result of the program, 72 families from Letcher County were observed to make a tangible effort to help others in a crisis situation, while over 1500 Johnson County TN families were observed to be strengthened socially from the program. The facility coordinator commented, “You somehow knew exactly what we would need."