Eight hundred sixty-eight thousand, nine hundred seventy. That is how many meals Tyson Foods Inc. Meals That Matter provided to victims of Hurricane Florence. Over a nine-day span Meals That Matter cook teams from Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia descended on ravaged North Carolina and provided hot meals to those who had been impacted by the deadly storm and to those who were volunteering to help.
Among those dispatched to the disaster scene was a seven-crew team from the Dexter Tyson Complex. A management person from each area of the complex volunteered for the five-day assignment, leaving shortly after midnight on Sept. 24 and returning in the wee hours of Sept. 29.
"We originally were dispatched to Fayetteville to relieve the first wave of cook teams, who had already been there almost a week," says Dexter team member Matt Harris. "However, when we arrived in Fayetteville on Monday, the interstate to Wilmington, which had been the hardest hit, had opened, so we were sent there instead.
"We spent the night in Fayetteville because we already had accommodations reserved, then left for Wilmington around 4:30 the next morning."
Walmart donated their parking lot to the Meals That Matter teams, which came from eight complexes.
"As soon as we arrived we set up and started cooking. We cooked and served all day long. Daniel Tucker, Paul McBride and I were cooking; Lockard Cassity, Jessica Haney and Cathy Smart assembled, wrapped and packaged the cooked food; and Bud Parks was a runner, taking the prepared food off-site to churches, missions, shelters -- wherever displaced people were staying," he says.
Harris says that meals were also served on the premises.
Harris explains that the teams would start cooking at 7 a.m. and serving began at 11 a.m.
"We cooked all day until mid-afternoon," he says. "We cooked hamburgers, hot dogs, wings and chicken sandwiches, and those people who came to eat were so grateful for what we were doing. Even though they had lost everything, they still were kind, gracious and thankful.
"In fact," he adds, "everywhere we went people were so nice. They were welcoming, and thanked us for our efforts."
He says the feeling was mutual.
"We couldn't get out much, but what destruction we did see, made us very grateful that we could help in this small way. It was a good feeling to know that while these people had so many worries, their next meal was not going to be one of them," Harris says.
The more heavily damaged areas were still closed because of downed trees and power lines.
"In the areas we could visit, though, the damage was primarily from high winds and debris left from receding water. The smell of dead fish was everywhere," he says.
The weather was not cooperative.
"It rained two days, it was hot, it was humid, but we didn't care. Nothing could dampen our spirits. We worked together, and everyone got along. It was a positive experience and it was an honor and a blessing to be able to assist in this way," Harris says.