Mercy Chefs Delivers Gifts to Western NC Children from Very Special Elves

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. – In a heartwarming display of compassion, students who once needed help after Hurricane Michael are now paying it forward. This holiday season, they are uniting to bring Christmas cheer to students in North Carolina’s Black Mountain community, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene.

Mercy Chefs teamed up with Reynolds Baptist Church in Asheville to help make Christmas extra special for a group of children who have been through so much. They told us about their toy drive that was underway and we asked if we could help.

We then helped connect Reynolds Baptist with Florida based Emerald Coast Fellowship. Students at the church who were recipients of Mercy Chefs’ aid following Hurricane Michael, led the charge to support children who, like them, are navigating the challenges of post-disaster recovery.

Emerald Coast Fellowship came together to pack more than 500 gift boxes for students at Black Mountain Primary and Black Mountain Elementary School.

“We were provided Christmas by another church after Hurricane Michael, where we were still chopping down trees and trying to get in our own homes,” Ladies small group leader Pricilla Chavez told WMBB. “We lived the trials and tribulations and we’ve survived, and we want to be able to pay that forward.”

The students also wrote cards of encouragement to place in each box of toys.

In addition, Reynolds Baptist helped shop for toys from students’ wish lists, so they could have something special to open under the tree this year.

We also made lunch for teachers and staff members and provided them with gift cards this holiday season. The teachers we spoke have not only been through so much personally, but they’ve also been so strong for their students.

In addition, we also delivered grocery boxes to the area to give to families in need. The grocery boxes are filled with enough ingredients to prepare 50 meals.

You can read the full story from Southern Living, here.

WLOS also stopped by to capture the event, you can see their coverage here.