AVERY COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) -- Posters stretched across the gym wall of Cranberry Middle School in Avery County. On them were the names of students and a large check mark after principals like Emily Dellinger helped verify everyone had been accounted for. "Luckily, we have volunteers that have been going out into the community to help us and say, 'Yes. They are safe. They just don't have service to answer the phone call,'" Dellinger said. The remnants of Hurricane Helene not only knocked out power to parts of Avery County but washed away homes, including Ariana Greene's. "We saw 12 to 15-foot trees tumbling down the river. It slammed into our two car garage that was there, and we just watched it collapse," Greene said Heavy rain on Friday caused her home to be swept away in a matter of seconds, and all she could do was watch. "It was terrifying. If we did not have our vehicles ready, I'm not sure if we would've made it out safely. I know that hasn't been the case for some people," Greene said. Greene says she and her husband took shelter at a local gym and then relocated to First Baptist Church of Newland where she is a youth pastor. She is temporarily staying in a church office. Though her home is gone, she has turned her attention to helping others in the communityby opening a volunteer distribution center. "We have as many essential items as possible. We have canned foods. We have pop tops. We're running into people not having can openers. Pop top foods have been dropped off. We have a lot of wipes. It can be baby wipes or even just hygiene wipes because there are still people that don't even have water," Greene said. Greene says FEMA is also assisting with her efforts. Like many others in Avery County and across western North Carolina, Greene has lost everything but says her faith is keeping her going. "To help others right now is giving me my purpose. If not, I think I would crawl into my office and cry. But being able to hear these people's story and to let them know that they're loved and cared for is really giving me purpose and drive to keep going. We're a small mountain town, but we're going to come back," Greene said. Greene says they're not taking online donations but are taking drop off donations. The drop off location is at First Baptist Church of Newland at 160 Cranberry St. Feeding Avery Families and Build Back Avery are accepting donations.