Melaleuca Helps Hurricane Helene Victims with Cash, Beef, Food, and Other Products

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As part of a comprehensive plan to bring relief to the victims of Hurricane Helene, Melaleuca and the Melaleuca Foundation have quietly supported dozens of families, sent cash to food banks, extensively donated products to local churches, stocked American Red Cross shelters, and given high-quality beef to organizations through the southeast United States.

Shortly after Hurricane Helene hit the US, Melaleuca CEO Jerry Felton posted this directive:

“Help is on the way! Responding to the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Melaleuca and the Melaleuca Foundation are providing more than $500,000 in cash, Melaleuca products, and Riverbend Ranch Black Label Beef throughout Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina. … We are so pleased and honored to be in a position to provide relief and alleviate suffering in any way we can.”

Hurricane Helene was the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States in 50 years. After drenching Florida, the Category 4 hurricane traveled up through Georgia, South Carolina, and western North Carolina before dissipating over eastern Tennessee. And in its wake, it decimated entire towns in each of these states, obstructed major roadways and left millions of households reeling from the storm.

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Melaleuca’s Four-Pronged Plan for Hurricane Helene

Even before Hurricane Helene made landfall, Melaleuca and the Melaleuca Foundation had been coordinating with community centers and Marketing Executives in the Southeast to determine the most helpful and efficient means of providing relief to soon-to-be hurricane victims.

Here is Melaleuca’s four-pronged relief effort for Hurricane Helene:

  • Taking care of individual Melaleuca family members (customers and Marketing Executives)
  • Providing Melaleuca products to churches and community centers as well as American Red Cross shelters in heavily affected cities
  • Feeding the hungry through a sizeable donation of Riverbend Ranch Black Label beef
  • Donating cash to key food banks, enabling them to purchase food and other supplies for entire regions

Melaleuca Semitruck Brings Food to Local Communities

After loading inventory at Riverbend Meats and Melaleuca’s distribution centers in Idaho Falls, Idaho, a Melaleuca semitruck drove to Knoxville, Tennessee. Once there, the truck was quickly prepared for a three-day tour consisting of 10 stops throughout the Southeast.

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“This drive was a remarkable experience, simply because it allowed us to be on the front lines of helping a lot of people in need,” said Chris Schmardebeck, a Melaleuca driver who completed over 4,000 miles with these deliveries. “In every town we went to, we saw people jump in to help us distribute these products. I kept feeling like this is what being an American is all about.”

The Melaleuca semitruck delivered supplies to:

  • Crossroads Community Church in Newport, Tennessee
  • American Red Cross shelter in Johnson City, Tennessee
  • Wilmington Response in Dillsboro, North Carolina (staging station for Asheville and Black Mountain, North Carolina)
  • American Red Cross shelter in Greenville, South Carolina
  • Stevens Creek Church in Augusta, Georgia
  • Golden Harvest Food Bank in Augusta, Georgia
  • Victory Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia
  • American Red Cross shelter in Macon, Georgia
  • Grace Family Church in Tampa, Florida
  • American Red Cross shelter in Tallahassee, Florida

The truck was forced to change routes multiple times, often being diverted because so many roads were in no condition to accommodate a 53-foot semitruck. In one case, the detour into Dillsboro, North Carolina added over six hours of driving time. But with each obstacle, the driving team remained determined. Nothing was going to stop Melaleuca from delivering the food and supplies to the hurricane victims.

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Melaleuca Marketing Executives partnered with us, standing ready at each city to unload the products and ensure they were immediately distributed to families in need.

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“The generous donation to the people of North Carolina was incredible,” said Executive Director 2 Janice Walker, who helped unload the truck for victims in Asheville, North Carolina. “The people on the ground were so grateful! They told us story after story of the heroes involved in taking these products to the people who most need them. These heroes would find a way in—helicopters, ATVs, lifted trucks, dirt bikes, kayaks and more. People doing what they can to help. And now they see Melaleuca as one of their heroes! I’m proud to represent this American company helping American families in need.”

Schmardebeck recalls a special moment in Tampa at the Grace Family Church, where the people had just let out of a Sunday morning service when the Melaleuca truck arrived.

“Along with my fellow driver, TJ, and 15 Melaleuca Marketing Executives, Church members started to form a human chain to bring our products into the church’s lobby. In this line, which quickly grew to 75-100 people, there was an NFL superstar quarterback (who asked to remain anonymous), an elderly woman, a seemingly homeless man, and several children taking part in the work. All were unified. Within minutes, Melaleuca’s large donation was set up on tables and volunteers began handing out bags of products to people in need.”

Prayers from Valdosta, Georgia

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Jonathan Montgomery, an Executive Director 3 from Valdosta, Georgia, reflected on his experience with the Melaleuca Foundation.

“As a Marketing Executive, I have seen from a distance what Melaleuca has done for other communities through the foundation and through their overall generosity, but when disaster comes to your back door it hits home a little differently,” Montgomery said. “There are so many people in need in our community. Homes have been destroyed, and people have been displaced. Families have been without power for days and days. When I saw that Melaleuca truck pulling into our church parking lot with loads of personal care items, beef patties and beef franks, it was a little overwhelming. Because of Melaleuca, the lives of families in Valdosta and Lowndes Country have been enhanced.”

Melaleuca Sends Cash to Food Banks

Melaleuca’s relief also included tens of thousands of dollars to food banks in key cities:

  • Mannah Food Bank in Asheville, North Carolina
  • Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee in Maryville, Tennessee
  • Golden Harvest Food Bank in Augusta, Georgia
  • Feeding Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida
  • Second Harvest of the Big Bend in Tallahassee, Florida
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“I want to make sure to shout out a hardy THANK YOU to Melaleuca, your foundation, employees and donors,” said Jennifer Kilburg of the Feeding Tampa Bay Food Bank. “We were pleasantly surprised to receive a $25k gift yesterday from Melaleuca to support our Hurricane Helene relief efforts. And to our surprise, your company is not even local. From across our country, an organization that was not directly impacted by Helene made a significant donation to support our efforts to help our region during this challenging time. What a gift! Thank you from the bottom of our empty bowls.”

Great Results Come From Great Teamwork

In addition to Melaleuca's Management Team, Melaleuca would like to recognize these Team Members for their contributions to this humanitarian project:

  • Mike Mendenhall, Stacie Johnson, Chris Schmardebeck, and TJ Toomer from the logistics and transportation team
  • Teri Williams, Dean Tharpe, Stacy Reagan and team from Knoxville, Tennessee for preparing the complex product order at the same time as month’s end
  • Kendrick Hanny, Hyrum Egbert and the Riverbend Ranch team for packing beef and creating dry ice at a moment’s notice
  • Brock Yancey, Brogan Lott, Bill McCammon from the Forecasting/Planning team for evaluating products to donate
  • Thomas Knutson, Darrin DePaolo, Jef Clark, Dena Malcolm, Jordan Jardine for helping Melaleuca Customers and Marketing Executives impacted by the storm
  • Melanie Ames, April Workman, Brenda Warmouth for compassionately calling dozens of severely impacted Marketing Executives
  • Mark Townsend, Martin Casariego, Doug Stewart, Victor Barajas, Steve Price for identifying Marketing Executives who became a part of the solution