O

tto and Shelley Dube felt compelled to 
help victims of Hurricane Helene after 
seeing the widespread devastation that 
the Category 4 hurricane caused across the south-
eastern U.S.
On a whim, the Farmington Hills husband-
and-wife duo decided to turn a trip visiting their 
grandchildren in Cincinnati into a longer road 
trip that took them to hurricane-battered North 
Carolina, where they would deliver food to an 
organization that supported the hungry.
The Dubes, who are retired (Otto served as 
funeral director at Hebrew Memorial Chapel, 
while Shelley was a longtime disc jockey and 
voiceover artist), are no strangers to volunteering.
Shelley, 63, was Woman of the Year for Children 
of Chernobyl; and Otto, 70, served as a youth 
adviser for B’nai B’rith for 24 years. He was 
also past president of its Minnesota-Wisconsin 
Council.
In addition, the Dubes were both on the board 
for the Anti-Defamation League Detroit chapter, 
where they first met.
Being active in the community is a regular part 
of their lives. They are driven by their Jewish 

values. Otto is the son of Holocaust survivors, 
while Shelley’s ancestor started the Detroit David-
Horodok Organization for descendants of the 
small town ravaged in World War II.
Now, they pray daily for the missing hostages of 
the Oct. 7 attacks.
Still, they sought out ways to help American cit-
izens in addition to their local volunteer work and 
volunteer efforts abroad. After one of the biggest 
and most devastating natural disasters to hit the 
U.S. in recent years, the Dubes knew their efforts 
should be focused on North Carolina.
For support, they rallied their neighbors, who 
wrote checks and supplied food items. A kind 
Costco manager opened the store’s warehouse to 
the couple, who secured pillows, blankets, water 
and dog food to take with them to North Carolina.
“Our car was brimming over,” Otto Dube recalls 
of the recent October mission. “We even had 
goods stuffed where the spare wheel is.”
The Dubes partnered with Second Harvest Food 

Bank NWNC in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 
to help distribute the food and essential goods that 
they brought with them from Michigan.
The nonprofit organization operates a Meals on 
Wheels program, culinary school and food pan-
tries, as well as provides meals for people in med-
ical need. “The whole place is really fascinating,” 
Shelley Dube says.
Second Harvest Food Bank NWNC brought the 
donated food and goods to an airport in nearby 
Avery County, North Carolina, where it was load-
ed onto helicopters and drones for delivery.
After witnessing the devastation firsthand, the 
Dubes call themselves fortunate.
“We don’t get a lot of tornadoes or hurricanes 
here in Michigan,” Shelley Dube says. “To have the 
ability to actually physically go and help people, it 
was amazing.”
“We’re very humbled,” Otto Dube adds of the 
entire experience. “We’re very lucky to have the life 
we do.” 

PHOTO CREDIT

Otto and Shelley Dube 
travel to North Carolina 
with a car full of food 
and essential goods.

A Mission 
to Feed 
Victims of 
Hurricane 
Helene

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY 
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

16 | DECEMBER 12 • 2024 J
N

Otto Dube at the Second Harvest Food Bank NWNC in 
Winston-Salem.
The Dubes stuffed their car with supplies for hurricane 
victims.