Hurricane Helene caused immeasurable damage last year, destroying people’s lives, homes, and communities. While this is devastating, the response that we have seen has been beautiful. Many groups and individuals have risen up to help those affected, providing much-needed services and resources.

This week on Family Policy Matters, host Traci DeVette Griggs welcomes Eric Robinson, co-founder of the non-profit Operation Helo, to discuss his work flying helicopters and providing aid to those affected by Hurricane Helene.

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Family Policy Matters
Flying Helicopters to Help Those Affected by Helene (with Eric Robinson)

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Thanks for joining us this week for Family Policy Matters. Hurricane Helene left devastation in its wake, for sure, but the disaster also showed an encouraging outpouring of compassion and selflessness that is not always readily apparent in our culture today. Many of us were moved to pray or donate supplies. So many others are weekly dropping everything and heading to the mountains to do mud outs and reconstruction of homes despite the freezing conditions for volunteers to operate. Well, two men took their very unique talent and put it to work flying helicopters, taking in supplies and serving on search and rescue missions throughout the North Carolina mountains. Well, those efforts blossomed into a new organization called Operation Helo. Eric Robinson is one of the founders, and we’re grateful to have him with us today. Eric Robinson, welcome to Family Policy Matters.

ERIC ROBINSON: Hey. Thank you so much for having me on.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: All right, so first of all, what inspired you to get involved volunteering for the disaster in the first place?

ERIC ROBINSON: It all kind of started. We have a very good friend, Doug Jackson, who he is the founder of Operation Airdrop, and we’ve been friends with Doug for a long time. My co-founder, Matt McSwain, and I have been friends with Doug for a long time. And what operation Airdrop does is they respond to natural disasters using fixed wing airplanes. He called us, obviously, this being our backyard, he called us, and he asked how they could help. And we said, hey, look, man, this is, unfortunately, it’s not an airplane mission. Most of airports are gone, so this is definitely a helicopter mission. So, we, my co-founder and I, are in the aviation industry. So, we put some feelers out to friends and anybody, honestly, that had a helicopter that was willing to come help out, and that’s how Operation Helo was born. So honestly, it was, it was born out of necessity, because there was a lot of devastation. A lot of people were shut off. A lot of people really needed help with basic stuff. So that, it was born out of necessity.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Alright, so you said you were in the aviation industry. So for those of us out here who know nothing about that, what does that mean? Like, what does somebody do in the aviation industry, for you, example?

ERIC ROBINSON: So, we are in kind of the back country flying community. We have a company, Acme Aero that specializes in backcountry airplane suspension. So, it’s a tight knit community. It’s a great community, awesome guys, but being in the aviation industry and in the community, you hang out at air shows and stuff like that with people, so you get to know a lot of people, like-minded people. So, when, naturally, whenever we put the call out, there was a great response, just honestly, due to our friendships and the relationships that we built throughout that community.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Wow. I think in the business world, they call that networking. You call it making friends. Yeah, so let’s talk a little bit about that, because you’re excited to help, right, but you need to help in the right way. So how do you get connected with the needs so that you know that what you’re doing is really meeting those needs?

ERIC ROBINSON: My co-founder and I are both prior military, so when we looked at this, we kind of look at it through military eyes and through a military application. There was not a lot of communication coming out of western North Carolina. A lot of people were shut off. Cell towers were down, so we decided it was necessary for us to first get communication. So, we dropped a bunch of our friends from 82nd Airborne Special Forces, 20th SF group. We dropped them in with star links that were donated by Elon Musk and President Trump. We dropped them in with Starlinks to where we could establish communication. So we, I think, when it was all said and done, we did over 500 Starlinks at different LZs, different fire departments, to where we could cover the area, understand what the needs were, to where we could then begin meeting those needs. And obviously we had to forge LZs, landing zones. So, we did that as well, to where we could get aid, exactly where it needed to go.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Okay, so that’s pretty exciting. Tell us about what happened next, then, once you got those people on the ground established. Wow. So, there are other organizations either operating there or trying to operate there. So how much communication did you have with those groups?

ERIC ROBINSON: So, then we start communicating. The communication comes in and it’s, we start hearing the needs, the actual physical, real-time needs of who’s on the ground and what’s happening. So, there were needs for X fields for. Able to be brought out. So, when it was all said and done, we pulled out, over 430 people, brought them to safety. Had a triage area set up. There was also, there was a huge need for medication, so insulin, oxygen, stuff like that that I didn’t think about initially, the reports start coming back that that’s a big need. Obviously non-perishable food items and water. Those were huge needs. And another one that simply, from a morale perspective, baby wipes just so, I mean, just imagine if you’re shut off and you haven’t seen or talked to anybody in five, six days. You don’t have water, you don’t have food, along with some water and some food to get a baby wipe just to wipe off, huge morale boost. So yeah, when those needs started coming in, we were able to meet those in real time, and we knew exactly what was going on the ground due to that communication.  We were, and not to get too technical in the aviation industry, but inside the affected area, kind of the Asheville, western North Carolina area, they put up a, it’s called a TFR, a temporary flight restriction. So, in order to go inside that area, inside that perimeter, you have to have what’s called a squawk code. So, you plug that in on your airplane or your helicopter, and it tells everybody around who you are. If you didn’t have one of those squawk codes, you couldn’t get in. So, we were one of the only organizations that had, I think we had, at the height of the operation, we had 50 squawk codes to where we can go in and out. So, we didn’t see a whole lot of, there weren’t a whole lot of other organizations there simply because they weren’t allowed in. There were some government entities there. But at the height of the mission in Hickory, where we were stationed and where we were operating out of, we had some national guard assets running missions for us. So it was, that was great.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: All right, so now you’ve decided that there’s a need for this going forward, that you guys would like to continue to help in any way that you can. What is that going to look like for you?

ERIC ROBINSON: Operation Helo, right now, is kind of multi-faceted, I guess you would say. We have committed to western North Carolina. Those are our neighbors. We know the needs on the ground. We were part of the immediate response. We transitioned and were part of the temporary housing response. So, we knew that there were numerous people in the Western North Carolina mountains that were rendered homeless. Not only did they lose cars and material things, but they lost actual houses, like entire houses gone, sometimes even family members. So, we, we knew that we had to meet that need as well, so we started providing temporary travel campers to get people out of tents and out of cars. But then we have kind of satisfied that need. To date, we’ve gotten over 200 campers into families and gotten people out of tents. So, we’ve satisfied that need for the most part. Now we are transitioning into the permanent rebuild effort, so we’re getting behind people in the area. There’s Summit Building Supplies and a couple different building supply companies that we are, that we have accounts with to where any of our families can go. And if you’ve been vetted, you can go there, you can get building supplies, and you can start rebuilding your house. So that’s one facet of it. The other facet is, if there’s another natural disaster anywhere, I would say, kind of east of the Mississippi, we will be able to deploy. Florida, the Gulf Coast. We’ll be able to deploy and provide immediate needs to the population that’s affected by any of those natural disasters.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Let’s talk a little bit about those early days when you were the few that were getting in. What was that like for you? Was that emotionally difficult? Were you amazed at what you saw?

ERIC ROBINSON: Pictures never do it justice. When you actually go and you physically see for yourself where the flood level was or where the water had reached. And then you look at where the where the water is at the time, it’s like, it’s almost unfathomable to put your mind around just the sheer devastation. I mean, the debris, the destruction. Yes, there’s pictures, and again, it just doesn’t do it justice. I say it all the time, but apocalyptic is not being overdramatic. There were, I mean, entire towns were wiped away, so it was very, very emotional. But I tell you, on the other side of it, just to go in and take somebody some food and some water and to give them a hug after they haven’t seen anybody for five days, and they’re kind of hopeless, man, that’s very impactful. And a lot of tears were shed, happy tears, sad tears, but it was very impactful. And we say it all the time. We hate that we have to do this, but we’re glad we get to, if that makes any sense.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: How physically demanding was it in those early days? I know you guys were mostly flying in, but you were flying in people who were on the ground, how difficult of a time were they having, then?

ERIC ROBINSON: You know, I think you run on adrenaline, and you know, when it’s all said and done, and you finally lay down at night, yeah, you’re wiped out, you’re exhausted, but that sense of duty is always there, so that’s what fuels you. I mean, there was days that, you know, we would look up at five o’clock like, Oh man, I hadn’t even eaten anything today, but you’re still, you’re just running on that adrenaline. And you know that these people are counting on you, sometimes to live. So, yeah, it’s physically demanding, but I would say that God’s hand was all over us, and we had supernatural strength for a long time.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Oh, yeah. So, can you talk to us? Because at the Family Policy Council here in North Carolina, we just love these stories of somewhat ordinary, it’s hard to call you ordinary, but ordinary citizens who see a need and decide they’re going to step up. So what was that like for you? And do you feel like people can see what you did and say, I can take my special, unique talents and put it to work in some way?

ERIC ROBINSON: I would hope so. We are, we are normal people. We’re your neighbors. We saw a need. We stepped up. But, you know, we learned more than anything, that people want to help. They just sometimes need an avenue. So, you know, we’re a faith-based organization, and me, personally, I’ve been through experiencing God quite a few times. And, you know, one of the big principles in there is, see where God’s at work, and this is, just join Him. So, I think it’s, you know, when people want to help it, like, Man, I don’t know how. Just when you see an organization like Operation Helo or Samaritans Purse, or, you know, any of those bigger organizations, God’s at work there, and there’s always a chance to plug in. I mean, we needed volunteers the whole time we were in Hickory, and still do, so there’s always an opportunity. But again, we’re just normal people, just kind of putting our yes on the table.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: As your organization has progressed, then, are you starting, you mentioned Samaritan’s Purse, I know the North Carolina Baptists are always very involved in some of these disaster relief situations. But what about government entities? Are you seeing a collaboration between all of these different groups that you find to be inspiring, or is there more work that’s needed there?

ERIC ROBINSON: I think there’s a lot of work that’s needed honestly. You know the government, there’s a lot of constraints, a lot of red tape, so I don’t fault the government for maybe their lack of response, or their response not being so rapid. For us, we are a small nonprofit. We kind of can do whatever we want, but we are still trying to figure out how to kind of bridge gaps between different organizations to where efforts aren’t being duplicated. We’ve made inroads there, we were on a call this morning with quite a few different organizations operating in western North Carolina, and everybody kind of telling everybody else what the right hand is doing and what the left hand is doing. So I think there’s some work that needs to be done there, but we’re getting there.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Okay. Well, I know you said you still need volunteers, and of course, a new non-profit organization always needs people to give money or get involved in some way. So tell us how people can get involved and learn more about Operation Helo.

ERIC ROBINSON: OperationHelo.org, that’s where everything is housed. That’s our website. We also do have social media. Facebook is Operation Helo. We have always been very transparent. We do a lot of videos. We want people to know where their money is going, how their money is impacting people, how their money is changing lives. Yes, I mean, this is, this is funded by donations, and it’s $5, $10, $15 donations. So fortunately, we’ve been extremely blessed, and we are still, like we said, we’re going to continue to help until we can’t help anymore. So yeah, but it’s all funded off of donations.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Alright. Well, what a pleasure. Thank you for your good work. Eric Robinson, thanks for being with us today on Family Policy Matters.

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