Canes pack truckloads of donated goods for Hurricane Florence New Bern relief effort

Don Waddell jumped into the seat of a fork lift early Wednesday morning at PNC Arena like he was used to being behind the wheel.

“Did this doing construction work many years ago,” the Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager said.

The Canes on Wednesday loaded up truck loads of donated goods and items to be driven to New Bern, as part of the team’s Hurricane Florence Relief Drive. That included Waddell, who transported several fork-lift loads of goods into PNC Arena to be moved into the trucks.

“This is something we talked about as the hurricane was about to hit, how could we help all these people who not only have been left homeless but lost everything they had,” Waddell said. “We started this drive a week ago and our fans and this community really rallied. We have 92 pallets and three truck loads going to the relief fund to help people out.

“It wasn’t just hockey fans. It was our community coming together and that was nice to see.”

Team owner Tom Dundon also was on hand Wednesday as the trucks were filled.

“There’s an obligation to help the people who are suffering,” Dundon said. “Hopefully people realize somebody cares.”