When Dennis Nickerson woke up on a Saturday morning in late September he saw television pictures of flooding from Hurricane Helene in Ashville, North Carolina. “I need to do something to make a difference,” he vowed. Within nine days he had received hundreds of dollars in cash and had amassed more than $120,000 worth of goods. Scores of Gorham businesses and local residents had answered his call for help.
Looking back on that project, Nickerson and his wife Ann spoke of immediately putting a sign for North Carolina relief in front of their Narragansett Street house. “By Sunday morning my garage was full,” he said. He enlisted Joey Daigle, Ann’s son, from Dixfield to put out the request for goods on social media. Nickerson did a radio interview with Ray Richardson on WLOB, the conservative news/talk station. This drew a response from all over Maine, but the bulk of the contributions came from Gorham.
Among the many local business donators were Dearborn Construction, Gorham Sand and Gravel, Shaw Brothers, Maid for You, Port City Graphics, Moody’s, and Great Falls Construction. Plummer’s Ace Hardware gave two generators, Gorham Sand and Gravel and Shaw Earthworks gave much-needed chainsaws, and Mr. Bagel provided food. Individual Gorham residents came up with cash and goods. Daigle took some of the donated cash and bought 30 pairs of rubber boots. “A woman who lives in her car gave dozens of blankets,” Nickerson said.
“Lots of good people worked 12 to 14 hours a day to get the goods organized,” Nickerson said. Among the donations were tools, sleeping bags, clothes, diapers, and pet food. On Oct. 17 fifteen volunteers drove seven trucks to North Carolina, missing two days of work. FedEx sent two trucks and Jamison Energy in Standish provided fuel money and cans of gas. When the convoy made an overnight stop in Virginia, they found that John and Cindy Smith, Gorham business owners on vacation, had arranged a steak dinner to be waiting for the drivers.
The donated goods were delivered to the Biltmore Church of Christ in Ashville, which had set up a massive reception and distribution center. Nickerson had been in communication with the church to determine the greatest needs. Along with pallets of goods, they gave the church $12,263 in donated cash and gift cards.
Nickerson was appalled by the destruction. “It was ten times worse than what you see on television. It will take years and years to recover.” He said, “Imagine the center of Gorham gone in a few hours.” Daigle, who was unable to make the trip because he had strained his back, said, “Thanks to everyone who donated, cash, goods, and time.”