Join Explore Asheville for a Day of Service on September 23
Opportunities to Give Back During the One-Year Helene Milestone Week

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the people of Western North Carolina showed remarkable strength, compassion, and resilience. Local nonprofits, neighbors, and community leaders stepped forward without hesitation to provide shelter, food, supplies, and hope.

The Helene Milestone Day of Service was created to honor that spirit—both the loss our region endured and the extraordinary acts of service that continue to support recovery today. This day is more than a commemoration; it is a call to action. It is an invitation to residents, families, and visitors alike to give back.

How To Get Involved

On Tuesday, September 23, we’re partnering with RiverLink, Greenworks, and Food Connection for a Day of Service and invite you to be part of this effort. To get involved, choose one of the volunteer opportunities below and sign up directly with their team.

Opportunity #1: Volunteer with Food Connection

Join Food Connection for an immersive look at daily food rescue operations. Your team will participate in food pickup from donor partners, meal packing, and prepping pans to go back out into the world to collect more food. You’ll also get a tour of their home base and Fran, their beloved food truck. Staff will be on hand to guide you through the logistics of their food rescue operations and meal distributions. 

• When: Tuesday, September 23 - choose from three time slots: 10:45 a.m.–12 p.m. | 11:45 a.m.–1 p.m. | 12:45 p.m.–2 p.m.
• Where: St. George’s Episcopal Church, 1 School Road
  
  

Opportunity #2: Volunteer with RiverLink

Karen Cragnolin Park (KCP) was purchased as a long-standing auto-crushing junkyard in 2006. For almost two decades, RiverLink has invested in the property by removing concrete, healing the polluted soil, managing invasive plants, and creating a new park—one that showcases its context in Mother Nature and cultural history, tells its story of remediation, and honors RiverLink’s founder, Karen Cragnolin.

Designed with flood resilience in mind, KCP performed beautifully during Hurricane Helene despite being under 20+ feet of water. We continue to invest in the park’s resilience by caring for the native pollinator meadow in partnership with Patchwork Meadows, enhancing our riparian area, and creating an aesthetically pleasing, educational, climate-resilient public park for the community to enjoy. 

For this event, we will continue this work by managing the non-native invasive plant species in the meadow, and if time allows, mulching and watering newly planted shrubs along the riverbank. Expect light to moderate gardening work (weeding, mulching, watering). 

• When: Tuesday, September 23, 1–3 p.m.
• Where: Karen Cragnolin Park (KCP), 190 Amboy Road | Additional parking available at Amboy River Park (180 Amboy Road) and Carrier Park (220 Amboy Road)
  

Opportunity #3: Volunteer with Greenworks

Join GreenWorks for a meaningful river cleanup along a section of the French Broad River that was heavily impacted during Hurricane Helene. Your team will canoe from Pearson Bridge to Silver-Line Park, stopping along the way to remove debris and restore this vital waterway that connects our community. This hands-on volunteer experience will involve getting in and out of canoes and wading in the water as we work together to care for our local environment. Since Helene, so many of you have gotten out to clean up our streets, rivers and neighborhoods. Thank You! We have come a long way and we know there is still a long road ahead of us. Come join us as we continue to care for our community and local environment together. WNC Strong!

• When: Tuesday, September 23, 10–2 p.m.
• Where: French Broad River from Pearson Bridge to Silver-Line Park, 506 Pearson Bridge Road, Asheville, NC 28806
  

Your Partnership Matters

Recovery isn’t a single event—it’s an ongoing commitment to care, collaboration, and community. The Explore Asheville Day of Service is about uplifting and amplifying the work being done by our local nonprofits every day and encouraging you to get involved.

Already busy on September 23, but still want to give back during the Helene Milestone week? Whether serving meals, cleaning riverbanks, sorting donations, or supporting families in need, every action contributes to the ongoing healing of our community. Explore more volunteer opportunities at Hands on Buncombe-Asheville's volunteer board or by clicking here.