ASHEVILLE, N.C. — “The Bear” behind Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ restaurants is on the ground in Asheville, N.C., offering aid to those affected by the devastating floods from Hurricane Helene.
Four years ago, Jamie McDonald opened a Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ in Asheville. There are currently two there alongside the four locations in Connecticut.
Since Hurricane Helene struck almost two weeks ago, McDonald has been busy in Asheville working with World Central Kitchen to help provide meals to those flooded out residents in dire need of assistance.
Via a Zoom interview at one of his Asheville restaurants, McDonald said, “There was intense flooding, a lot of power outages, we still don’t have water.”
McDonald estimates that between Bear’s and World Central Kitchen, they are providing upwards of 30,000 meals each day.
“With my connections with World Central Kitchen we got set up here at Bear’s and just started cooking everything we could to feed as many people as possible. We are delivering by car, we are delivering by helicopter because there are a lot of areas inaccessible by car," McDonald said.
He added that his efforts to help his adopted community in Asheville are all worth it, “The best part of this is just helping the people that need it.”
To learn more about World Central Kitchen, which provides food relief missions around the world click here.
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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