Thanksgiving Meals, Supply Distributions, & Elections Updates

Hearts with Hands is doing a Thanksgiving meal and supply distribution on Nov. 27 from noon to 4 p.m. This will be a drive-thru event at the Hearts with Hands Warehouse, 850 Warren Wilson Road in Swannanoa. Register heartswithhands.org or call 828-667-1912 by Monday, Nov. 25 at noon.

Each registered family member will receive a complimentary meal, including turkey, sides, desserts, and drinks plus a variety of essential items will be provided including cleaning products, hygiene kits, paper products, non-perishables food boxes, baby and pet supplies and more.

The YWCA is also distributing supplies like cleaning products, food, and essentials for babies on Thursdays and Tuesdays from 1-4 p.m. at 185 S. French Broad Ave., Asheville.

Community Care Stations are open daily from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. with showers, laundry, and more. All Community Care Stations have ADA accessible showers and bathrooms, and laundry drop-off and pick-up is available at the Swannanoa Ingles. The locations are:

• Ingles in Fairview at 225 Charlotte Highway
• At Home Store parking lot
• Big Lots/Innsbrook mall
• Buncombe County Sports Park
• Bethel United Methodist
• Swannanoa Ingles
• Owen Pool
• Morgan Hill Baptist Church

Buncombe County registered nurses and the Mobile Team are offering free Tdap, COVID, Flu and Hep A vaccines at Community Care Sites, this includes:

• Swannanoa Ingles: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 6 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Buncombe County Sports Park: Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
• Big Lots: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 6 p.m.

Water and meals ready to eat are available at distribution sites open daily at:

• Sky Lanes Bowling Alley
• Black Mountain Ingles
• Swannanoa Ingles
• Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
• Pack Square Park
• Buncombe County Sports Park
• Fairview Ingles

The FEMA mobile Disaster Recovery Center at Buncombe County Sports Parks will close today at 5 p.m. A new location will be announced soon. The Disaster Recovery Center at Cane Creek Pool continues to be open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Some important information regarding FEMA applications:

• If you applied for FEMA assistance, you will receive a letter explaining FEMA’s decision within 10 days. Read your letter carefully and stay in touch with FEMA. They may need more information to approve your application.
   
• If you are approved: You may get funds by direct deposit or a U.S. Treasury check based on which payment method you chose in the application. Your first payment may be for essentials, like food and water. You could also receive funds to hire a contractor to provide an estimate for home repairs. Stay in touch with FEMA even if you are approved. If your situation changes, you may be eligible for further disaster assistance.
   
• If you are NOT approved: FEMA may need additional information from you to support your application. This will be explained in your determination letter so read that letter carefully. The fastest way to submit additional documents is to upload to your disaster assistance account at DisasterAssistance.gov.
   
• You can appeal any FEMA decision or award amount by sending documents that show you qualify and need more help, like estimates for repairs, receipts, bills, etc.

Absentee by mail voting is underway, and the County has accepted more than 6,000 ballots with more than 1,000 additional ballots for Friday's processing meeting. Early voting is happening now, and more than 94,000 voters have already turned out. In Buncombe, those numbers mean that nearly half of registered voters have already voted. 

"We have long lines in Buncombe, but in fact there are long lines all across the state," said Buncombe County Director of Elections Corinne Duncan. "North Carolina is turning out. If you haven’t voted yet, there is still time to return your absentee ballot. You can vote early through Saturday, and Election Day is Tuesday."

For absentee by mail the deadline for requesting has passed. Ballots must be returned by Election Day, November 5 at 7:30 p.m. Get them in the mail, drop them off in person at any early voting location, or bring them to the Elections Office, 59 Woodfin Place, Asheville. A near relative is also allowed to do this for you.

Early voting is available until 5 p.m. Thursday, 9-5 Friday, and 9-3pm on Saturday. By law, the entire state must close early voting at 3 p.m. on Saturday. If you are in line at the close of the day, poll workers will take your name and you will be allowed to vote. In past elections, Friday and Saturday have been very busy. Go to whichever of the 10 locations are most convenient to you, and you can check the wait on our website at buncombecounty.org/vote. 

The early voting locations are:

• Black Mountain Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain
• East Asheville Library, 3 Avon Road, Asheville
• Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sand Hill Road, Candler
• Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview
• Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Hwy., Leicester
• South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road, Asheville
• UNCA Health & Counseling Center, 118 W.T Weaver Blvd., Asheville (new location)
• Weaverville Community Center, 60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville
• Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Center, 285 Livingston St., Asheville
• West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Road, Asheville

Bring your photo ID or be prepared to fill out an exception form. If you don’t have a photo ID, you can stop by our office and get one for free. You can also Same Day Register during early voting, if you wish to do that bring your ID and proof of residency.

Election Day is Tuesday, and polls will be open 6:30am to 7:30pm. If you choose to vote on Election Day, you must visit your assigned voting location. As long as you are in line by 7:30 p.m., you will be allowed to vote. If you don’t know where that is, call (828) 250-4200, go to buncombecounty.org/vote, or look at the voter card you received in the mail. 

Due to storm damage or use for emergency operations, 17 of our 80 election day voting locations have changed. On Monday, the County mailed cards to impacted voters. Find a list of changes at buncombecounty.org/vote.  

On election night, preliminary results will be released at buncombecounty.org/vote beginning at 7:30 p.m. starting with absentee by mail results, then early voting numbers over the next two hours, and finally the results from each of the Election Day voting locations as they come in. It is estimated that these preliminary results will be in by 11 p.m. After Election Day, the County processes any absentee by mail ballots received before close of polls on Election Day, as well as any provisional ballots. The County also audits during this period. Once all that is complete, the Board of Elections will come together on Nov. 15 to publicly certify the election and submit the official results to the State Board of Elections.

The One Buncombe Call Center at 828-250-6100 is ready to answer any calls with 

Hurricane Helene questions Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Clocks will fall back overnight Saturday. With the time change, Buncombe County Schools will go back to a regular schedule.

There will be no community briefing on Friday as the Board of Commissioners will meet at 11 a.m. to discuss Hurricane Helene Recovery funding. That meeting will be streamed at facebook.com/buncombegov. Stay updated with BC Alerts - sign up by texting BCAlert to 99411.