Ways to help folks in Asheville, NC impacted by the hurricane

a quick note, thank you for reading and helping

dear friends,

at the bottom of this message are ways to help folks impacted by the recent hurricane, and if you’d like to just help immediately, feel free to just skip down there. of course, i welcome you to read the words between here and there, but the most important part here is to help.

here’s why i’m sharing this now.

the jewish new year began a few days ago, and i was sending out messages to friends i care about yesterday.

one friend from asheville wrote back that they weren’t feeling particularly celebratory. they told me there is “no water for maybe months” and there are still tons of people without power, on top of all the death, destruction, and suffering that the storm has wrought. from our exchange: “disaster workers on the radio are saying it’s worse than katrina in certain areas--like nothing they've seen in 30-40 years.”

i knew the storm had hit but i did not know the extent of it, and i’m so sorry.

this time between rosh hashannah and yom kippur, the jewish high holidays, is meant to be a time of reflection, of taking account of one’s actions, of atoning, of asking forgiveness, of making amends.

i’m sorry for not mentioning this tragedy sooner.
i’m sorry for not sharing about all the tragedies and what we can do to help.

in between these two big jewish holidays is also october 7, which is both my birthday and the anniversary of the deadliest attack on jewish people since the holocaust. i’m saddened by all the suffering that has happened since then, and before then.

something that offers some hope is that there are people advocating for peace. this is a beautiful TED talk from earlier this year, where an Israeli and a Palestinian who have both lost family to violence come together. here is the description of it from TED’s website:

How can Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace? Palestinian peacemaker Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli peacemaker Maoz Inon discuss the immeasurable tragedies they've experienced growing up in the region — and how they choose reconciliation over revenge, again and again. With a fierce belief in a better future, they talk about conflict, safety, finding shared values and how they're building a coalition of Israeli and Palestinian citizens who are intent on creating a path to hope and peace.

so, in addition to sadness, i’m also feeling gratitude that there are opportunities for us to do our best to learn and help.

and as such, here are (from my friend and Asheville resident

Alex Dobrenko`

’s wonderful newsletter “Both Are True”) some places to donate. (What follows are Alex’s words from his post from a few days ago, with a link to that post at the bottom. Much love and thanks to all.)

Places to donate

A very incomplete list I put together focusing on the most local on the ground spots. Ppl of Asheville who are reading this, if you know of other places, plz comment with deets!

• BeLoved Asheville - An all-volunteer org delivering homemade food and essential items into Asheville.

  • A message from them that I found nice to read: It’s heartbreaking to see our city in such devastation, but amidst the rubble, something beautiful is happening. Everywhere we go, no matter how damaged the area, we are greeted with smiles, gratitude, and hope. The love and solidarity we witness in every corner are overwhelming.

  • Also: All donations go directly to our projects as we have no paid staff

• Homeward Bound - working to help the homeless in Buncombe County

• Help River Arts District Artists Rebuild After Hurricane (GoFundMe)

• WNC Regional Livestock Center is working to recover displaced animals. Here’s a message from them on FB lol:

  • Dozens have asked and I am too technically challenged to figure out how to confidently add a donate button - so - Monetary donations for livestock relief and rebuilding supplies can be made to

    donate@cdro.us via Paypal or Venmo to @Yvonne-Cobourn-1.

    Label WNC Livestock flood relief -

    Thank you! 🐓

Here are a couple lists of places to donate to as well -

Asheville CitizenTimes — How to help Asheville, North Carolina storm and flood victims: Where to donate, what to do (and what not to)

ABC13 News - LIST: Resources, donations, food for Asheville community post-Helene

we're okay - a quick Asheville update