'The Remarkable Redneck Airforce of Asheville'

Run out of the Harley-Davidson shop, no less.

The relief effort after Hurricane Helene is powered by private citizens, and volunteers have discovered that it's better to ask forgiveness than permission.

At a Harley-Davidson dealership in Appalachia, one expects to encounter the occasional roar of some serious horsepower. 

Less expected is the sight that has accompanied that sound in Swannanoa, North Carolina, for the past three weeks: helicopters, many of them privately owned and operated, launching and landing from a makeshift helipad in the backyard of the local hog shop. According to the men who organized this private relief effort in the wake of devastating floods unleashed by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, more than a million pounds of goods—food, heavy equipment to clear roads, medical gear, blankets, heaters, tents, you name it—have been flown from here to dots all over the map of western North Carolina.

"We're not the government, and we're here to help," says one of the two men standing by the makeshift gate—a pair of orange traffic drums—that controls access to and from the Harley-Davidson dealership's parking lot and the piles of donated items neatly organized within it. "We can do it quicker, we can do it efficiently, and we genuinely just want to help our neighbors." He identifies himself only by his first name and later asks that I don't use even that. It's an understandable request, as what he's doing is probably not, strictly speaking, totally legal. 

From Reason magazine, the story of bikers and helicopter pilots and former Green Berets, churchgoers and the 101st Airborne falling in on and taking orders from civilian volunteers who know better where they're needed. 

It's everything you ever wanted to believe about America, and it's really true. Read the whole thing.