DeKalb County agencies collecting donations for Hurricane Helene victims. Here’s how you can help

SYCAMORE – Sycamore agencies are asking DeKalb County community members to lend their charitable spirit to efforts to help those affected by Hurricane Helene.

Sycamore Police Department and Sycamore Community School District 427 are asking the community to donate and drop off supplies that will eventually be shipped to Asheville, North Carolina, which was inundated by flash flooding as a result of the tropical storm.

The storm made landfall in the big bend area of Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, but the storm's largest impacts were felt in the southern Appalachian Mountains, according to the National Weather Service .

The storm's death toll rose to 227 on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. About half the victims were in North Carolina, while dozens more were killed in Georgia and South Carolina.

Water, diapers, baby formula, pet food, shelf stable food and more can be dropped off at Sycamore's City Center, 308 W State Street, or at Sycamore Middle School, 150 Maplewood Drive, Sycamore.

Anyone so inclined can also buy supplies and needed items through an Amazon Wishlist , according to a Sycamore Police Department social media post. Those items will be sent to UpStaging , 821 Park Ave., Sycamore, a live production business based in Sycamore.

"The goal is to have the semi loaded and heading to North Carolina by the end of the week," Sycamore Police officials wrote.