The De Pere Cinema in downtown De Pere. PC: Fox 11 Online
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Members of the Northeast Wisconsin community have spent the weeks leading up to the holiday season raising funds for complete strangers, hoping to have an impact on people hundreds of miles away in Tennessee.
It’s been two months since communities in east Tennessee were devasted by flooding after Hurricane Helene.
“You go down like by the river, it’s just wiped out. It’s like nothing,” says Mike Radue, owner of the De Pere Cinema, who visited the town of Cosby outside Asheville and Gatlinburg.
He says it will take years to rebuild.
“Just stuff piled as high as you can imagine, both sides of the road. You look at it and it’s kids’ toys and clothes, and everything. It’s everything.”
Along with others in the Northeast Wisconsin community, Radue’s family got connected with TN & NC Strong, a group helping on the ground in Tennessee.
After hearing of families and children sleeping in tents, with winter fast approaching, they pitched in to buy a camper to send for a now-homeless family of four.
“There’s families now, that it’s just too cold to stay in tents. They’re living in their cars, so it’s an ongoing need to try to raise money to keep sending these moderate-size campers down there so they have some shelter as winter sets in,” Radue adds.
Radue says it didn’t take long before the generous De Pere Cinema community was pitching in, too.
“We had a pizza fundraiser where half the price went directly towards it, anybody who came in and took popcorn, that 100% went, and within two days we had raised $2,000, ended up raising just about $6,000 dollars so we were actually able to purchase two more campers and send them down.”
Radue made the trip to Tennessee this week to deliver one of the donated campers to those helping on the ground.
“As I was leaving town I pulled over, I had such a lump in my throat thinking I’m going back and I’m going to have Thanksgiving dinner with my grandkids, and I’m going to go watch the Packer game and I’m thinking there’s people who don’t even have a place to sleep tonight. It’s hard.”
So, he says the work won’t stop.
They’re going to do what they can to continue to raise money for shelters and plan to make another trip to Tennessee in December in hopes of bringing some holiday joy, including presents for kids in the community there.
“Unless you’ve been there, it’s impossible to describe unless you see it first hand. Pictures don’t do justice to what’s there.”
Those interested in supporting Radue’s work to help those in Tennessee can visit the De Pere Cinema Facebook page here to stay updated on fundraising events.
Comments