“Whoa,” Paisley said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Paisley wanted to get a firsthand look at the flooded Elk River communities. He said he’s felt sort of helpless since he started to learn about the devastating flooding in his home state less than a week earlier. He made the trip home to see it for himself.
Paisley saw a buckled gym floor and damaged hallways and classrooms but it seemed to be the band room that got his attention the most. He had an extended conversation with the Herbert Hoover band director as U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito looked on.
“You can’t capture the smell,” Paisley said comparing his tour with photos he’s seen of flood damage. “Any photo doesn’t do justice to this thing that goes on in your mind that says, ‘I shouldn’t be breathing this,’ and in a school is a terrible feeling,” he said.
Paisley set set up a GoFundMe account Wednesday and started it off with a $100,000 donation. He said it had reached $250,000 less than 24 hours later.
“There’s people in the Country Music world that want to help. NASCAR, Rick Hendrick, all of his drivers, he’s ready to do anything it takes. Everybody cares that knows about it. We just have to let them know about it,” Paisley said.
Paisley is also in conversations with fellow state native actress Jennifer Garner. He said she plans to visit in a few weeks.
Paisley said it would probably be a challenge to get the school open by early August but don’t count West Virginians out.
“That seems like insurmountable odds but knowing these people and knowing this area—as long as they have the funds–they’ll pull it off,” he said. “They have everything else–the will, the desire the work ethic,” Paisley said.
Paisley made an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline” Thursday morning after touching down in Charleston. He told host Hoppy Kercheval he didn’t want the momentum generated by the tragedy to stop.
“In the beginning it’s easy to get everybody motivated because it’s very much something that is right in front of you but it’s after that it is sort of less apparent, and they start to clean some of it up, that really it gets harder to get everybody’s attention and that’s what we need to continue to do,” Paisley said.
Paisley, who made a couple of other stops in Clendenin before arriving at the school, also got an update from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Paisley said it’s in the fabric of Mountain State residents to bounce back.
“Small town thinking is one of people that really want to stay together and they support each other, they got each other’s back. The thing we’re missing is money, that’s it,” he said.