East Lyme ― A 53-foot trailer in the parking lot of Ron’s Guns on Monday morning was almost at capacity as boxes stacked two wide and two high awaited the 13-hour drive to Mountain City, Tenn.

Co-owner Ed Rando was in the truck when Mike Maskell, of the local Smith’s Acres garden center, arrived with a couple 3-foot-tall boxes spilling over with donations of needed items for victims of Hurricane Helene.

“You got room for two more?” Maskell asked.

Rando sent him inside to get shop manager Josh Ebersole, who returned in the cab of a forklift on loan from the local Hayes Services dumpster rental company to lift the boxes into the truck.

Helene hit northern Florida on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane and quickly carved a swath of destruction through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. Nearly 250 deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Ebersole earlier had explained the intent of the collection drive from inside the shop, which is identified at the door as a “politically incorrect zone.” The warning sign is flanked by a Gun Owners for Trump flag and a blue light in support of law enforcement.

“We’re doing it to help people, because our government sucks,” Ebersole said.

Employee Nicole Wood put it this way: “We felt enough wasn’t getting done by the government, and we wanted to unite and come together and help fellow Americans. This is what we need to do. We need to come together to support each other.”

Local news reports in Asheville showed North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday said state, local, and federal workers, along with charities and volunteers, have been responsible for delivering millions of pounds of food, water, medicine and supplies to the area. He called for people to stop spreading misinformation about the hurricane response.

According to the Associated Press, presidential candidate Donald J. Trump made a series of false claims after Helene struck in late September, including saying that Washington was intentionally withholding aid from Republicans in need across the Southeast.

The trailer, when it is hauled down South as soon as Tuesday, will be the fourth and final truckload from Ron’s Guns. Wood said the list of requested items has grown to include winter clothing now that snow has fallen in some areas ravaged by the hurricane.

Among the items loaded into the trailer were heaters, propane tanks, non-perishable food, clothing, winter coats, hygiene items, diapers and baby formula.

“The outpouring of support from the community has been unbelievable,” Wood said. “I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it.”

Rando said the latest delivery will land near the border of North Carolina and Virginia to be distributed by a nonprofit organization to residents of Johnson County, Tenn.

The local Johnson City Press media outlet reported U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., on Monday said efforts to recover from the devastating flooding will be extensive in an area where roads and bridges were wiped out by floods. He called for more support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose response he criticized.

Previous truckloads went to Weaverville, N.C., near Asheville, according to Rando.

‘Why not help others?’

Rando said he conferred with his stepbrother David Waddington, of North Franklin-based DW Transport, when the employees of Ron’s Guns came up with the idea for the collection.

The first two trucks were part of a convoy including donations collected at the Groton Bowling Center, which filled multiple, 53-foot trucks.

Waddington subsequently provided more trailers, boxes and pallets to keep up with the demand from people in the area looking for a place to drop off donations.

“I made that one call to David and the wheels started spinning, and here we are,” Rando said.

Smith’s Acres co-owner Teri Smith described her business as “a little cog” in those wheels.

She said her husband, Joe Smith, offered the Niantic-based garden center as a collection site to accommodate people who were hesitant to brave the traffic at Flanders Four Corners caused by the long-running Interstate 95 construction project.

She said customers filled roughly 10 bins set up outside the greenhouse. Included was baby formula and baby food provided by Care and Share of East Lyme because the food bank does not currently have clients with infants.

Smith counted her business among those that like to give back to the community, and beyond.

“We love our town, we love our people,” she said. “Why not help others if possible?”

e.regan@theday.com