We are a close-knit community of organizations that work with local businesses and the small local business alike. United by or passion for local business and the communities we love, we are a supportive collective of like-minded souls. Now one of us desperately needs our help.
As I’m sure you are aware, Asheville, NC was devastated by Hurricane Helene. No one, small business or individual will escape harm from this storm. Before Helene, Asheville was a thriving community of local businesses and a stellar organization supporting them. Go Local Asheville is one of the premiere independent business alliances in the country and a valued member of the LBI LocalFirst Community.
At LBI, we seek to help wherever we can. I am asking you, organizations and business owners alike to step up and help Asheville’s local business community in whatever way you can. Any donation will be much appreciated. I’m sure they would do the same for you. Please dig in your pockets and make a donation on website. Asheville is a long way from rebuilding but our help can ensure that local businesses survive to rebuild. Let’s come together and show them what the local business community can do.
In addition to donating, consider ordering an item or two directly from an Asheville business. Go Local Asheville has led the way to make this easy for you on a new website of locally-owned shops. Take a look at your Christmas list and see how many gifts you can get on Love Asheville From Afar.
Your donations go directly to Go Local Asheville. If you could donate time, services or other assistance, please contact Sherree Lucas directly. Thank you for your help.
I’m including a very heartfelt account written by Go Local Asheville’s Director, Sherree Lucas.
It was the end of September, usually the time we begin preparing for our 2025 Go Local Asheville Print Guide, a listing of all 650+ local independent business members that is distributed in early December. These businesses provide discounts and perks for our 5000+ Go Local cardholders. We were extra excited about 2025 as we were launching a youth card for businesses who wanted to give discounts to our 13–19-year-olds. We saw this as not only making purchases more affordable for our teens, but also helping to educate them on the importance of supporting our local independent business community.
Then Hurricane Helene hit on September 27th and everything changed. No matter what federal official you spoke to, whether it was FEMA, the Small Business Administration, Army Corp of Engineers, or any one of the hundreds of people who are first line responders in a natural disaster, they all said the same thing. They had never seen anything like this before. There was no way to prepare for the destruction and devastation that a hurricane in the mountains can cause. Rivers crested at 27 feet above normal. Think about that…27 feet above normal? The number of houses, businesses, cars, personal belongings that were swept away down the raging rivers like toothpicks were in the thousands.
Many of us were lucky and escaped the rivers and flooding. Those who lived along the riverbanks, or in this case even in close proximity, experienced the devastation the most. These families lost loved ones, their homes, all their personal belongings. Our community is grieving right alongside them.
The result of the storm that directly impacted everyone was the loss of power, internet and water. We couldn’t communicate. Those who had a battery-operated radios kept the rest of us informed. Slowly, in some cases weeks later, the power and internet came back on. But as you’re reading this, nearly 6 weeks after the hurricane, no one in Asheville has potable (drinkable water). Most of our water comes from a very unique reservoir and water treatment system that were catastrophically damaged. The City and the experts that came from around our state and country to help figure out how to bring drinkable water back into our homes have done great work. They were able to repair the pipes and pump non potable (not drinkable) water into our homes for flushing toilets and, if boiled, to wash dishes. We can use it to take showers as long as we don’t swallow it. And wash clothes. But there was/is way too much sediment from the landslides, mudslides and flooding to be safe to drink. Current estimates are: clean water in the reservoir by Thanksgiving, clean water pumping into our homes mid-December.
For our local independent business community, this natural disaster couldn’t have come at a worse time. You may think there is never a good time for a natural disaster, but when one hits in the busiest tourism month of the year and many of our businesses are dependent on that revenue in the fourth quarter to survive, well, there are actually better times for them to happen. Not that we can ever control that…just wanting to communicate the bad timing on top of a catastrophic occurrence doubles the amount of harm it causes. Think about a small business not having electricity to open or internet to run its cash register or operate an e-commerce-based business. Now consider the types of businesses that need drinkable water to run their businesses…hotels, restaurants, breweries, spas, coffee shops, and more. While some have been able to have potable/drinkable water delivered in tanks and hooked up to their pipes to actually run dish washers and operate a kitchen, it is very expensive, not sustainable and for small moms and pops, just not doable. Now, add to it that our service workers were without jobs for weeks and many still don’t have a job to go back to. This has resulted in shorter operating hours and limited staff during operating hours.
I know I’m painting a bleak picture, but there are always silver linings. The community has come together and when we’re through this, will be stronger than ever. And businesses are opening back up (the Biltmore opened on November 2nd, which will bring some of our tourists back in time for the holidays). The business support through local and regional grants, information sessions to keep our business owners in the know, the City and County giving daily water updates, community-based organizations collaborating to make sure all of our businesses are receiving support, the volunteers who pitch in to clean up, feed and find shelter for our unhoused, donate clothes, household goods and supplies for those who lost their homes and belongings, …all of these efforts are building back and supporting the community to help move forward.
Anyone who is reading this newsletter can help, too. If you’d like to help Go Local support and rebuild our local independent business community, we have set up a donation page here. Donations will be used for programs and services to support our business members. In addition, there is a website that was set up to “Love Asheville from Afar” that you can find here. Over 600 local independent businesses have an e-commerce site on this website for you to buy their products, gift cards, or donate directly to them to recover and rebuild from wherever you are.
Thank-you for your generosity. If you’d like to learn more about Go Local Asheville or have any questions about the use of donations, please email me at sherree@golocalasheville.com.
