SWANNANOA, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Kelly Patterson and her crew are tearing down buildings and building up appetites in Swannanoa.
Patterson and her contracting company, Patterson Contracting Group LLC, have spent the last several weeks traveling from Person County, N.C. to Asheville to lend their heavy machinery to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. This Thanksgiving, the primary machine they’ll be using is a grill.
“We’re cooking,” Patterson said. “We have 2000 pounds of turkey. We have 200 pounds of ham. We have 750 pounds of potatoes. We have 250 pounds of string beans. We have 1200 rolls. We have at least 300 pounds of stuffing. We have gravy, hot apple cider, hot chocolate, the works.”
Patterson thought for a moment.
“And we have 250 pies and 1000 brownies,” she finished. “We’re gonna be doing it up.”
All of it is free and open to the public.
The meals are being cooked and distributed from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 27 at Swannanoa Christian Church in the Grovemont neighborhood of Swannanoa.
Patterson said that the initial crew rolled into town around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27. They’ve been hard at work since. It all came together fast and furious.
“In a very short amount of time, within two days, me and the city council worked out that we probably needed to feed at least 1000,” Patterson said. “I was like, okay, I have no fundraising money and I only have two weeks until Thanksgiving. Can I pull this off?”
Her husband and Patterson Contracting co-leader, Joshua, was on board.
“He was like, ‘what are you gonna call it?'” and I said, ‘well, it’s gonna be a miracle if it happens,'” Patterson laughed. “So that’s what I called it. The Thanksgiving Miracle. By the third day, we had already had all the food donated. Except for the turkeys and I bought them.”
The miracle working Patterson and her team are doing won’t end with their Thanksgiving dinner. For leftovers, they’ll spend the rest of the week doing contracting work around the area.
“The first time we were here, I think we did at least 12 houses. We demoed 12 houses and cleared about eight acres,” Patterson recalled.
On their second trip, Patterson Contracting cleared a warehouse, more houses and several more acres in the River Arts District. On this trip, they will be clearing more homes and land around Asheville Christian Academy in Swannanoa.
Patterson said that food has been part of their contracting work in the region since the beginning.
“The first time we came down here, I got my feelings hurt real bad,” Patterson laughed.
“I started cooking for our crew, because I didn’t want them to worry about food. People just started coming out of everywhere and they were like, ‘hey, I haven’t had a hot meal, are you cooking?’ and I was like, ‘Uh. Yes.’ But then I told my husband, ‘I’m running out of food.’ I got really upset because I didn’t want to tell somebody no,” Patterson said.
Patterson needn’t have worried. The community came to the rescue.
Read more about the food relief scene in Swannanoa: Community communion: The parking lot food court of Swannanoa
“This guy came out of nowhere and he was like, ‘hey, I’m from Indiana and I brought a food truck. Do you need more food?'” Patterson said. “‘I have more food. I’ll keep bringing you food if you keep cooking.’ I was like, ‘OK!’ I have no idea how many people we fed that day.”
Though Thanksgiving food may seem like Patterson’s specialty after today, she’s tried to mix it up. One one day, she made teriyaki chicken and lo mein. The next, it was hamburgers and hotdogs.
No matter what’s on the menu next for Patterson, she feels good doing the work, from kitchen to contracting.
“I mean, you’re giving back, and I would hope the people up here would do the same thing for us if we need it,” Patterson said. “It’s what humankind is supposed to be about, right? It restores your faith in humanity.”
For more information about Patterson Contracting Group LLC, visit their Facebook page.
