The Harveys knew they had to do something.
Hurricane Helene, “the deadliest and most damaging storm to ever hit North Carolina,” had swept through the state with unprecedented levels of rain and flooding. It devastated roads, bridges and 126,000 homes, causing an estimated $53 Billion in damage.
SanMar customer Mark Harvey, owner of Ten Bears Productions in Raleigh, North Carolina, was spared the worst of it. But seeing the damage affected him deeply.
“Pictures started to come through,” he said. “I wept to see it.”
Mark’s brother, a first responder in the area, said that he’d never seen anything like it in 41 years. He told Mark not to come there—it was too dangerous and resources were already thin on the ground.
With ties in the worst-affected areas of Boone and Banner Elk, Mark, his wife Joy and their daughter Emily still wanted to do something. Flooding and storm damage had left people without shelter and with only the clothes on their back. To make matters even worse, they saw a weather report that said a cold snap was on the way to the area.
“Mountain cold is different,” Mark remembered thinking. “We’ve got to get these folks some cold weather gear.”
And there it was—something Mark and his family were uniquely equipped to do through the business they ran together.
The Three Harveys
The name “Ten Bears” comes from a 19th Century Comanche tribal chief. He was a civilian chief known as an eloquent speaker, negotiator and advocate for peace—all aspects important to Mark. It was with these ideals in mind that he founded Ten Bears Productions in 2007.
A history major with a love of Native American culture, Mark set up his shop in Raleigh with the idea of bringing full-service promotional programs to small local businesses and large international corporations alike.
Emily joined the Ten Bears team in 2020, helping to manage their marketing efforts. Her mother Joy had retired in 2020 from a successful career in production. But she found that her experience could help Ten Bears run more smoothly, so she joined the company, too, in 2023.
The three Harveys are the full staff of Ten Bears.
“Emily and I are the people-people,” Mark explains. “Joy is behind the scenes, keeping the machine oiled.”
Most of their customer base is regional. But over the last 15 years, they’ve worked with customers in 22 states and two foreign countries.
This was the experience they would draw on as they decided how to help in Helene’s wake.
Making Connections
With people’s homes washed away and cold weather coming, Mark’s first call was to people he knew—his SanMar sales representatives, Mike Pratt and Stephanie Parker.
“I knew right away that this was something SanMar would want to help with,” Stephanie recalled.
Ten Bears had $1,000 to spend on a clothing donation, and SanMar would match that with another $1,000 from its Merchandise Donation Fund. Stephanie found the best price possible for a heavy hooded sweatshirt that could be shipped immediately and make the most of the available funds.
The next challenge was how to get the sweatshirts to where they could do the most good.
“I didn’t want them sitting in a warehouse while people needed them,” Mark remembered.
He called Tim Green, an old friend in Boone, North Carolina. Tim was already working with Samaritan’s Purse to prepare emergency kits filled with water, first aid and blankets. They needed cold-weather gear, and the hoodies Ten Bears had ordered fit the bill.
Within 48 hours, Samaritan’s Purse workers were distributing sweatshirts to hurricane survivors in Boone and at a local firehouse in Black Mountain.
Mark got a little emotional as he recalled the results.
“The helicopter pilots said they saw shivering people putting our hoodies on,” he said. “It was amazing, how fast everything came together.”
The Harveys wanted to do even more, but their budget was tapped.
Then came an unexpected phone call.
Help From Afar
Samaritan’s Purse told the Ten Bears team that flood victims in the area needed 200 more hoodies.
“We didn’t know what we could do,” Mark said.
That’s when the VP of Finance from Bonomi Industries, one of Emily’s customers out of Italy, called to see if they could help.
By now the devastation wrought by Helene was global news, and Bonomi wanted to pitch in. They sought Ten Bears’ help in getting warm clothing to people affected by storm damage.
“Have I got a story for you,” Emily remembered saying. “I think you just answered a prayer.”
Once again working with Mike and Stephanie, and backed by the purchase from Bonomi, Ten Bears provided 350 zippered hoodies and worked with Samaritan’s Purse to get them quickly to people in need.
This time, Mark and Joy saw the Samaritan’s Purse operation—and the damage left from Helene—firsthand. The couple had attended Appalachian State University and walked the Appalachian Trail together. They knew the area well. Seeing it now was heartbreaking.
“Roads were devastated and there was no place to stay,” Joy recalled. Workers cleared “trees, wood, cars, washing machines, furniture,” revealing the full extent of the damage.
“And most people there didn’t have flood insurance,” she said.
The road ahead is daunting for people whose homes were washed away. But there’s hope on the horizon.
We All Rise
About a month after Helene, parts of Boone reopened. Students returned to classrooms, water was available again and local restaurants started to come back. Recovery is underway, but with road and infrastructure damage alone estimated at nearly $10 Billion, it will likely take years to rebuild.
“The needs in the area have changed,” Mark said. “Most people at least have the basics…shelter and food.”
The Harveys were glad they could help. Contributions from Mike and Stephanie at SanMar meant their support went even further.
While the hoodies they helped to provide were distributed with no logos or decoration, there was one final aspect to their efforts that included a message.
Stephanie, familiar with what flooding looks like and how it feels, helped the Harveys pick a t-shirt to help unite the community in Helene’s aftermath. She knew just the right color for it.
“It’s flood mud,” she explained.
The brown t-shirt represents a familiar color: the muddy rivers and lakes of Appalachia.
A graphic artist designed a quilt that’s printed on back of the shirt. Each piece of fabric on the quilt represents one of the places affected by Helene. The phrase “BE strong” above the quilt is a reference to Banner Elk.
The message on the front of the shirt came from Emily.
“I thought to myself what options people have now,” she remembered. “I was watching them come together, lace up their boots and get tough.”
The weeks and months ahead will be tough. But the words on the Ten Bears t-shirt speak to the spirit that has helped so many people already, and will continue to make a difference as they rebuild.
“When waters rise, so will we.”
Samaritan’s Purse is still helping those most affected by Hurricane Helene, rebuilding or replacing houses and manufactured homes that were lost. If you’d like to contribute to their work, click the GIVE button on their website to get started.
