What remains: Following Helene flooding, MANNA FoodBank releases benefit album
Donated photo
In the seven months since Hurricane Helene ravaged the mountains and valleys of Western North Carolina, there’s been one constant thought rolling through the mind of Guy Smith.
“In memorializing Helene’s savagery, the agony it caused, the grief and loss, but also the resilience and charity,” Smith said.
“I’d like people to internalize that when things are the worst, people are the best.”
An Asheville-based singer-songwriter, Smith is the producer behind a new compilation of melodies from a bevy of local musicians. Dubbed “The Flood: Music for MANNA,” all proceeds from the record will go to MANNA FoodBank, a beloved nonprofit organization. To note, MANNA’s Asheville warehouse was destroyed when Helene’s floodwaters overtook the banks of the nearby Swannanoa River.
“Helene devastated our facility, but it never shattered our commitment to feed Western North Carolina,” said Mary Nesbitt, chief development officer for MANNA. “‘The Flood: Music for MANNA’ embodies the powerful spirit of a community that won’t leave anyone behind — especially when disaster hits.”
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Formerly located on the Swannanoa River in Asheville, the MANNA FoodBank warehouse was destroyed by Hurricane Helene last September. Since then, the organization has reopened in Mills River.
At its core, MANNA remains a vital resource for food insecurity in 16 WNC counties, including the Qualla Boundary. The organization connects over 200 partner pantries in our region, which results in thousands of local families being able to get the food and help they need.
And, with Helene’s devastation, more folks will now look to MANNA.
“The recovery is ongoing,” Smith said. “MANNA FoodBank is key because the old, the infirm, and now a lot of unemployed tourist industry people, need help and will for a long time.”
In the immediate aftermath of Helene, it was a one-two punch for MANNA. Not only was the food bank decimated, but all of those much-needed resources that MANNA would normally deploy amid a natural disaster were also destroyed.
“The Swannanoa warehouse was gutted, all the food washing downstream. Their headquarters was trashed,” Smith said. “But, within a couple of days of the storm, MANNA was finding and distributing food to people who didn’t have a kitchen to cook in because they didn’t have a home anymore. They needed help themselves, and I wondered what I could make happen.”
Guy Smith is the producer of 'The Flood: Music for MANNA' album. Donated photo
Being a longtime WNC songwriter, Smith realized — beyond actually lending a hand and helping others dig out (which he did) — he could also use the power of storytelling to help MANNA in its time of need.
“I realized local songwriters could both memorialize the Helene disaster, in a way that only poet songwriters can, and we could channel the proceeds to MANNA FoodBank,” Smith said.
Smith tapped numerous songwriters around our backyard and had no trouble getting others onboard with the album project — Hayley Everett, Bebe Kern, Jay Brown, Grady Hunter, Otis Goodwin, Rob “Splatt” Appelblatt and more.
“I held a man who shook as he cried on my shoulder,” Everett sings on “What Remains.” “I watched a child play in the mud that took his home.”
“For all the songwriters, I gave them a clear objective: find the biggest emotional reaction you had to Helene’s destruction and write from there,” Smith said. “The results show. There are songs about dismay, urgency, strength, gratitude, even hints of anger. More importantly, each song had a story or message that people can easily attach to. Because of that, the history of the Helene disaster will be remembered.”
According to Smith, a good portion of the songwriters featured on the album came to record at his home studio. He also gives sincere thanks to other local musicians who donated their time and effort to make the project possible, including help from Landslide Studio.
“Producing this album had challenges because everything was a volunteer effort, which meant we had to be flexible — a lot of juggling ensued,” Smith said. “For this project, the number of songwriters who stepped-up, the stunningly good songs contributed, and the eclectic range of the music was above my expectations — I should have known better.”
Smith’s not surprised about how many people joined in and came together to create “The Flood: Music for MANNA,” seeing as that’s just what the kind, generous souls of WNC do time and time again, whether by a natural disaster or merely by happenstance.
“Good people do that because they have within them something good,” Smith said. “As Hayley Everett’s song ‘What Remains’ says in the chorus, ‘When we are stripped to the bed rock, what remains is love.’”
And for MANNA, the organization has been able to rebuild its warehouse in recent months, which is now located in Mills River. Beyond all of MANNA’s hard work and community outreach, there’s also a deep sense of gratitude to all of those who contributed to this musical project — neighbors helping neighbors, as it should be.
“We are profoundly grateful for this outpouring of support,” Nesbitt said. “And every day we continue the work of ensuring our neighbors have the food they need now and for our long road to recovery.”
Want to help?
In an effort to raise much-needed funds for MANNA FoodBank, the nonprofit organization has released a new compilation album of songs written about Hurricane Helene and the flood aftermath.
Dubbed “The Flood: Music for MANNA,” the recording includes a slew of Western North Carolina singer-songwriters who donated their time, talents and music to the project.
To listen to the album and/or to donate to MANNA FoodBank, visit theflood.music. All proceeds go to MANNA.
For more information about MANNA, visit mannafoodbank.org.
