UNC club ice hockey partners with N.C. and App State for Hurricane Helene relief efforts

On Oct. 1, one week after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, the UNC, N.C. State and Appalachian State hockey teams came together for a weekend of hurricane relief efforts. UNC and N.C. State announced that their weekend games against Rider University and the University of Alabama would offer free admission for those who brought donations, including non-expired food, cases of water, sanitation products and toiletries, blankets and other various supplies.

Members from the App State hockey team were in attendance to help collect items to take back to Boone — one of the towns most affected by the storm. Hurricane Helene ravaged counties in western North Carolina, causing significant flooding and infrastructure damage, including submerged roads and buildings, which left many without power, cellular service or water. 

​​“I can definitely sense that it's not the same Boone," App State defenseman Joseph Bezek said. "It's not the same Watauga and Ashe County that people know and love. It's definitely affected people on a much bigger scale.”

On Friday night, UNC played Alabama at the Orange County Sportsplex in Hillsborough.Prior to the Tar Heels' game, Rider and N.C. State played a match focusing on the same efforts. 

“Everybody's trying to put their best foot forward and say, 'How can we help? What can we do?' and so this collaboration was a no-brainer for all of us,” UNC head coach Steve Rice said. 

Affected by the devastating hurricane, App State declared a Condition 3 closure. On Oct. 2, the school announced the closure would be extended through Oct. 11, and classes would resume after fall break. 

All App State club sports have also been canceled or postponed until further notice, including hockey. So, teams across the state felt inclined to help. 

At the game against Rider on Saturday, App State players were honored as special guests. They did the lineup read for UNC and the ceremonial first puck drop to kick off the game. 

“I thought it was super cool, super unique, that we were going to be kind of utilizing our platform and organizing something like this to help people,” senior defenseman Spencer Haskell said. 

Ultimately, the Tar Heels won both games, beating Alabama, 7-4, and Rider, 5-4.

As UNC worked to fill up a van of supplies on their own, Alabama brought its own additional bus of supplies to contribute to the donation. App State brought a white transporter van to the games and successfully filled the van before Alabama unloaded all its bus of supplies. 

“Knowing that Alabama has a bus full of supplies to be donated really just shows that this is more than hockey," Bezek said. "This is just people coming together and hockey is kind of that middle ground."

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