The Goodhue Company is providing hurricane relief efforts for North Carolina

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A Goodhue-based power and electric company has collected community donations and more to support relief efforts as North Carolina continues to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene.

On Saturday, Knobelsdorff (KE) will send about 40 employees from its energy division along with truckloads of community donations as winter sets in for western North Carolina.

These employees will spend three weeks in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to provide relief through electrical repairs, debris clearance and rebuilding of family homes.

On Friday, the company collected donations in front of Goodhue High School.

CEO Karl Von Knobelsdorff said the company has raised about $400,000 in cold weather gear, generators and in-kind contributions.

“Our team saw a need to help the people of North Carolina, and you know when you have the ways and the means to help, you know that’s our calling, we have to do it,” Von Knobelsdorff said. “So we’re looking for new blankets, bedding, new clothing, and then new or used dehumidifiers, new or used generators.”

Mike Huneke is the director of the energy division for KE and said he previously lived in North Carolina and helped bring this idea to the table.

“When I heard about it initially, it hit a little closer to home for us, and then as you hear more and more about it, I still have friends there,” Huneke noted. “I mean, whole communities that have literally been washed away and people still don’t have homes.”

The company will be holding several donation drives in Red Wing on Monday and Tuesday, as well as Zumbrota on Wednesday next week from 3 to 7 p.m.

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