Country star Eric Church can see the pain, suffering, and personal loss left in the wake of Hurricane Helene and has determined to do something about it, particularly those victims who live in the singer/songwriter’s home state of North Carolina.
In a press release first obtained and made public by Fox News Digital on Friday, Church made clear his intentions to cede all the publishing royalties for his new song, “Darkest Hour,” to those most in need in the place he grew up.
Church stated what drove his motivation to help in the release:
From Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, Upstate South Carolina, parts of Georgia and even Florida which took a direct hit, there are so many places that were impacted.
Specifically in the area that I’m from, the mountains of Western North Carolina were devastated. There are places that are just biblically gone. These are our family members, they’re our friends, they’re our neighbors – and they’re in dire need of help.
I’ve been in the studio for a while, trying some different things and exploring creativity. I had this song that I’d written, and the line that struck me in light of the recent devastation was ‘I’ll come running,’ because there are a lot of people out there right now who are in their darkest hour, and they need people to come running.
“We were going to wait to release music until next year, but it just didn’t feel right to wait with this song,” he added. “Sometimes you give songs their moment and sometimes they find their own moment.”
Church went on to say that this song was “the best way” he could think of how to help those in dire need.
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Cajun Navy 2016 via StoryfulThe song, Church said, is dedicated to “the unsung heroes, the people who show up when the world’s falling apart.”
Fox News noted in a video message posted to YouTube on Friday, Church also asked fans and followers to help him “gain as much exposure” to the devastation and do what they can to help.
He included donating to his Chief Cares fund, which is currently directing all its charitable efforts to the communities devastated by the storm.
As Breitbart News reported, as of Friday, nearly 300,000 American homes and businesses were still without power a week after the hurricane.
More than 220 Americans were killed by the hurricane, with hundreds more missing. Recovery efforts are still underway and some towns are still cut off from aid, only able to receive supplies via air.
