On a quiet Wednesday morning on Oct. 2, Greenville-based chef Conner Hinderks was en route to Asheville hauling supplies and food following Hurricane Helene.
“As soon as you get on to [Interstate] 26, you stop sharing traffic with most people,” Hinderks said. “It’s just a bunch of trucks and trailers and everybody’s bringing stuff up, which is really nice.”
Hinderks spent most of his career as a chef in New Orleans. His altruism comes from first-hand experience with the havoc hurricanes can cause in a community.
“Having lived in New Orleans and having lived through Hurricane Ida, which was really, really disruptive down there and just seeing the community come together and really help protect even its most vulnerable people, and just everybody,” Hinderks said. “It really just kind of stuck with me.”
Hinderks and his partner Christina moved to the Upstate in April, searching for a place to put down roots that was near family and close to the mountains. They fell in love with Greenville and started Asian-inspired eatery Little Secret in the kitchen of Eighth State Brewing in August. The brewery closed in late September.
Then Helene hit. Since he already owned a truck and knew where to find food and supplies at discount rates, Hinderks saw an opportunity to help.
He began by bringing supplies to Asheville’s James Beard Award-winning restaurant, Chai Pani. He posted his plans on social media Sept. 30, stating the intent to carry supplies from Chai Pani in Decatur, Georgia, to its sister restaurant in Asheville. Christina’s family is from Decatur, so it was a serendipitous place to begin.
While in Asheville, he and Christina were told Firestorm Books needed additional supplies. They assessed what the bookstore and coffee shop could use, returned to Greenville to hit Costco and Restaurant Depot, then hauled the second truckload north on Oct. 2.
Between drives, Hinderks volunteered at free cookouts, like the one at Comal 864 on Oct. 1. Many Upstate eateries have banded together to help the Greenville community following the hurricane.
He is totaling about 100 miles per day, collecting supplies in Greenville and shuttling them to North Carolina. The key, Hinderks said, is just starting to help.
“You get enough people that do that and then suddenly you have an entire mutual aid organization growing out of nowhere, and people are getting the resources they need,” he said.
