Jeremy Hill lives in Maricopa’s Homestead community, but Hurricane Helene hit close to home for the Army veteran who did his airborne training at Fort Bragg and has family in North Carolina and Tennessee.
That’s why Hill put his Maricopa business, JBH Maintenance and Remodeling, on hold to haul a 16-foot trailer stocked with supplies and donations from Arizona to North Carolina on Sunday.
“My wife and I we were just sitting down watching social media after dinner, and it’s devastation,” Hill said of the hurricane that has killed at least 300 people. “I just couldn’t sit back and not do anything.”
The Maricopa VFW post is voting whether to donate a palette of water, a resident who works at Walmart donated a palette of water and a couple of palettes of food and local dentists have donated toothbrushes and toothpaste, Hill said. Some neighbors have donated clothing.
With cash donations he has been able to buoy the supply drop with chainsaws, extra chains, fuel and body wipes.
Hill said he is grateful to his clients who put their projects on hold so he could go help and to the manager at The Home Depot in Maricopa who is not only holding the supplies for those jobs until he gets back but gave him a discount on supplies he purchased with cash donations.
Hill’s trailer today was only about halfway full, but he said he’s setting course for North Carolina on Sunday regardless and will help as many people as possible.
“My wife is a retired paramedic and she’s going with me, so what I plan on doing is actually taking all the donations out there and then we plan on helping boots on the ground,” Hill said. “I plan on helping search and rescue and my wife can help with first aid and things of that nature.”
Hill said he relates to the plight of those affected by Helene as he survived a major hurricane in Florida when he was younger.
“I guess that stuck with me a little bit,” Hill said. “I’ve been there, and my heart goes out to them. So, if I can make somebody’s day just a little bit better that’s going through that, then this won’t all be for nothing.”
The eight-year Army veteran added he felt the government hasn’t stepped up enough to help so he donned the mantle instead.
“When I took an oath, it was to protect everybody, foreign and domestic, and people need help,” Hill said. “When I was in the military, my job was pretty much to go where I was deployed, and I’ve been pretty much everywhere, … I’ve seen devastation and North Carolina right now looks like a third world country. So, it’s just the right thing to do, the human thing to do.”
Hill said he also has a couple of his military friends — who will also bring supplies — meeting him near the North Carolina border to convoy with him as he has been warned FEMA is confiscating donations bound for the state.
“I want to get it directly to the people who are hurting … not some organization that’s going to hold onto it,” Hill said.
Hill said he encourages people to donate to the cause whether that be to him or to other organizations. Hill recommended Samaritan’s Purse and Cajun Navy, groups that have been running aid helicopters and four-by-fours into North Carolina.
“They’re doing all of this out of the goodness of their heart,” Hill said.
For those interested in donating to Hill and his efforts, reach him through his business’s social media channels or call him at 623-305-2510. He said he is willing to pick up donations or people can drop items off at his house in Homestead.
“We’re looking to fill the trailer to help as many people as possible,” Hill said. “Anything you can do to help, if you want to do a cash donation, if you want to just donate some older clothes and bedding, whatever, we’ll take it cause people have nothing.”