(APPLETON) Here in northeast Wisconsin, residents are no strangers to the cold. And neither do those in parts of North Carolina, where they actually experience cold winters and snow.

But in the wake of Hurricane Helene, displaced residents are struggling to prepare for the inevitably cold weather to settle in, and many of them have almost nothing to keep warm.

On Saturday, the community came together in Appleton and New London to collect cold weather clothing to send to people in hard-hit areas of Appalachia.

Organizers also collected donations to help build shelters and tents for those now left without homes.

“We’re going to take whatever we can, clothing or otherwise, Orton Trucking in New London donated a truck, and we’re going to load up a tractor-trailer Monday morning and they’re going to go to North Carolina immediately and I’ll “I have people waiting there who are desperate to distribute the clothes,” explains Paul Crowe, the organizer of the collection.

Crowe says the goal is to gather enough donations to help them build at least 100 temporary shelters.