‘Above and beyond;’ Business spends day feeding those impacted by ongoing power outages

KETTERING — People across the Miami Valley are still feeling the impacts of Hurricane Helene.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, the remnants of Hurricane Helene brought powerful winds and heavy rain to the region, knocking down trees and powerlines.

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As of Sunday night, thousands of people across the Miami Valley still have no power.

The Blue Berry Café stepped up to help those impacted.

The café provided a free hot breakfast for any lineman and first responders and free dinner for families without power.

One Kettering resident told News Center 7 that she can’t thank the café enough.

“This place, Blue Berry Cafe, has gone above and beyond for us,” Evelyn Parr said.

Parr said she lost power Friday afternoon, and the past few days have been hard for her.

“Eating out of your car or McDonald’s and you know, one meal a day is kind of hard,” Parr said.

Parr said she prayed about her situation and realized that her struggles could be worse.

“All those people down south that have a catastrophic event, and mine seems so tiny,” she said.

News Center 7 spoke with Blue Berry Café owner Kelley Andary about why she wanted to help.

“There’s families with little kids and trying to get hot meals, and trying to go out to eat every night is costly,” Andary said.

Andary said she saw others in the community giving back, and she knew she had to do the same.

After posting about the free meals on Facebook, the café began receiving donations from people who wanted to help feed others.

Andray said they raised “over $600 to help pay for everything.”

Just a few miles down the road from the café's Kettering location, AES Ohio crews were hard at work.

AES Ohio Regional Manager for Metro Line Operations Andrew Jacobs told News Center 7 about their recent efforts and the struggles they have faced.

“Large limbs that have grown, you have complete tree failures, you have uprooted trees, you have difficult terrain that goes around,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs said AES Ohio hears the complaints and crews are working around the clock to restore power.

AES Ohio plans to have all the power restored by Tuesday evening.

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