NAOMA, W.Va. (WVVA) – Over the last few days, a slew of people has written in to WVVA telling us about one man who deserves recognition. This man is Carl Jarrell.
Jarrell is a resident of and business owner in the community of Naoma in Raleigh County, but, over the last several weeks, he has put all of that aside to become what the people of Naoma are calling a hero of the Raleigh County water crisis.
“We delivered over 800 cases of water, and I think we pumped about 2,500 gallons,” Jarrell shared. When asked if he had any tally of the number of people he had helped, he said it was in the hundreds. “There was several hundred that stopped by but on Saturday, last Saturday, we delivered from the Boone County line all the way back up to here…the census says there’s about 1,000 people from here to there, so I would think we done probably three or four hundred homes.”
Jarrell has lived in Naoma his whole life. As he would tell it, his neighbors have become like family to him. So, when the community was left without water for weeks, he knew he had to help.
“I had several customers that would come here and say that there was water distribution stations, and they’d went for drinking water. One lady had went three times, and it was out, and it’s no knock to those stations; it’s just there was not enough water.”
Jarrell quickly trasnformed his business into a water distribution site for locals. He also took time from his job to deliver bottled water throughout the community and worked to keep everyone updated on the water issue through his social media. His acts of kindness did not fly under the radar. Scores of people touched by his kindess took the time to write about it. Everyone had something nice to say, including his friends, his neighbors and even his employees, like Danny Zornes, who has known Jarrell since he was a baby.
“Carl’s a real good boy. He’ll do anything he can for ya, anytime. He pitched right in and got water and stuff down here, and we delivered it all over the place for him and give water to everybody,” Zornes shared. “He’s done more than his fair share.”
For many, Jarrell really is a hero of the water crisis.
Listed Below are some of the comments made by the near-fifty people who wrote into WVVA highlighting Jarrell’s efforts.
There is still some bottled drinking water at Jarell’s Backwoods Towing in Naoma. The shop is located at 7535 Coal River Road.
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