A mule train headed into the mountains of North Carolina near Asheville.
They are carrying supplies like food and water as well as insulin
and other needed prescription drugs to stranded people.
My understanding is that mule trains have been employed
both by private companies and by FEMA.
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Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
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From my dear friend, Rose, who lives in Asheville.

Hi friends and family. I just want to send a word of special gratitude about FEMA.

I have never had the need to have a personal encounter with FEMA before and so I have not really experienced the impact and power of FEMA and the great men and women who serve us through FEMA.

Over this last week, there has been the constant sound of military helicopters overhead. It’s a very different sound than private or hospital helicopters. These are the gigantic helicopters that are bringing in people and supplies, and scouring the mountains for folks whose escape roads have been destroyed. The helicopters have also brought in packs of mules to take supplies up into the mountains and bring back survivors. What an amazing orchestration of skill, service, and courage.

Yesterday my neighbor called me to say she thought she was having a heart attack. We called 911 and I went to her home to wait with her. The ambulance that came was a FEMA ambulance. Two women EMT providers were brilliant and saved her life.

And not 20 minutes later, a FEMA van passed me up as I was walking down my street. They were surveying neighborhoods to identify any damaged homes that need attention.

And all of these services are in addition to their efforts to build bridges and roads so that our community can survive.

So, so grateful for FEMA.

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And an excerpt from a post by a member of Rose’s communiity:

[T]he people of WNC [Western North Carolina] are exhausted and hurting. Everyone on the ground here is keenly aware of the massive help from government and non-profit organizations that has poured in here. Grateful doesn’t begin to describe what we feel. But it is overwhelming and exhausting to be in this. The workers in these organizations are human and they are sitting face to face with the tragedy of human lives: the loss of loved ones, the loss of shelter and/or livelihood. You can’t do this work and not be hurt by it, no matter how good it feels to serve. Even the extremely lucky like me are hurt by it….So to inflict further damage by spreading politically charged false information is both poisonous and cruel. 

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Excerpt from Letter: Educate Yourself on Project 2025 Proposals
from Whatisproject2025.net

Did you know that Project 2025 calls for slashing FEMA’s budget, gutting federal flood insurance, and dismantling NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the agency that issues hurricane warnings?