(ABC 6 News) — When Ruth Meirick, née Linkenmeyer watched a news segment in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, she knew she had to do something to help.

“I saw that it was from Riceville, North Carolina. I thought to myself, what if I had been reading Riceville, Iowa?”

Meirick is a 1986 graduate of Riceville High School in Riceville, Iowa, and reached out to the school to see what could be done, and Riceville2Riceville was born.

Riceville, NC lies seven miles east of Asheville, and according to the Asheville Citizen Times, first responders are still working tirelessly to account for survivors and survey the devastation wrought by the storm.

“Our first drive happened at homecoming,” said Meirick. “We quickly filled the trailers with things like cleaning supplies, scrub brushes, but also blankets, toys, and bed sheets. We also have handmade quilts, and cards and artwork from things that the children made in school.”

“Little messages of encouragement,” said Heather Zuko, K-5 Principal at Riceville (IA) Elementary, “Spreading messages of affirmation and kindness and compassion, that’s what they can do. ”

In addition to two trailers of supplies, the drive raised $15,000 to aid Buncombe County Emergency Management, who will also help distribute the supplies once they are delivered on Saturday by Meirick.

“The outpouring of support for this project went way beyond my expectation,” she said. “Everybody joined in for one cause, and that’s to help a city that’s suffering right now.”

Click here to find out more about Riceville2Riceville on Facebook.

Click here to find out how to give to help Hurricane Helene & Milton relief efforts through Hubbard Helps.