Badger’s wanderings took him and Rock Sprite back to North Cove, North Carolina, where a Helene recovery effort for the community of 2,200 people carries on.

The area is without potable water and electricity in many places and hundreds have been displaced, lost homes and loved ones due to the weather catastrophe.

Friends of Badger, Melanie Harris and Riley English of The Catawba River Lodge, have spearheaded an effort to serve three meals, seven days a week, at no charge to those who come and dine. An outdoor shower and port-a-johns have provided those who need essential services to have a chance to clean up. With limited exceptions, the efforts of the Lodge and the volunteers have been a private citizen effort.

Mountain People are a proud bunch. While staying at the Lodge, I noticed people in the dead of night arrive to pick up clothes and supplies. I guess they didn’t want their neighbors to see them in a time of obvious need. Many of these folks have lost everything.

I’m not saying this behavior is rational to most of us, but it’s the way many cope in the North Cove community and environs.

Scott Peck is an author (The Road Less Traveled) known for his emphasis on community building and spiritual enlightenment in an age of anxiety. He wrote in A Different Drum that “the problem is that once the crisis is over, so — virtually always — is the community.”

North Cove wants to keep the community formed over the Helene crisis for the immediate future and the long haul. There’s much work to be done with infrastructure and providing the basics, especially with winter weather and the holidays upcoming.

Badger is chronically tired these days — meeting ongoing obligations and extending to assist those who have less is wearing. I won’t abandon the mission. The pride and tradition learned at Central High School carries forward over 50 years later. We Bobcats just never quit when the cause is worthy.

Editor’s note: I asked Thomas Mabry, aka Badger, about donations to this community. There is a GoFundMe available for donations. 

Thomas Mabry – Honey Badger Images

Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at instagram.com/honeybadgerimages.