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Miami Valley native using helicopter to deliver supplies to Hurricane Helene victims

By WHIO Staff
By WHIO Staff

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Community members are still concerned for loved ones dealing with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 11, Isaiah Burch and his wife own Happy Helicopter Tours but they were not happy when they saw what Hurricane Helene did to parts of North Carolina.

“We felt very helpless. So the plan was just to take what food we could find around Greenville, (South Carolina) things that were left,” Burch said.

The couple started flying supplies to people who needed them.

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With the power of social media, others saw what they were doing and wanted to help.

“Within a day or two, we had hundreds of volunteers. We teamed up with other companies. It’s just the magnitude of this just completely took off,” Burch said.

Some of the help Burch got came in the form of other small helicopters and planes.

“Don’t hold me these exact numbers, but I know we’re well above 2 million of donated goods that have made it up to North Carolina. It’s been amazing,” he said.

Even if the mission was dangerous for him, he did it saying the risk was worth it.

“Some of these areas are so vast that not only did I have the goods in the helicopter, I had to make sure that I could safely get the helicopter into these spots,” Burch said.

Michael Ledford lives in Dayton but has relatives down south.

“Anybody willing to offer their services to help people down there, I mean, they’re heroes to me,” Ledford said.

He said other families are lucky too because of the Burch’s small helicopter and big heart.

Burch said he will continue to deliver goods through next week.

After that, he said he was going to focus on building his tour business.

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