Hurricane Helene Recovery: FOUR SPECIFIC PROJECTS YOU CAN SUPPORT *Make that FIVE thanks to more Volunteers stepping up!!!!
If you just want to cut to the chase. Or, here are the five specific projects we need your help funding and spreading the word about:
We have FIVE PROJECTS ACTIVATED that we are raising money for (currently only through my Venmo as they rejected my attempt to start one for my legitimate nonprofit, Mad Genius Foundation, even though I uploaded the official paperwork); so I have to stick to personal Venmo (@sruss verification 0074; I have attached the QR code picture and link below so you can share far and wide). We have already raised $3000 thanks to miss Faith Laux securing a grant and Becky Novak of Arise Images donating $500.
Until I have consistent internet and can deal with that problem, it is what it is for now and Venmo will keep really good track and I am making all things Public and I am putting notes on exactly what the money is going towards. Money is a real issue in order to keep our FOUR RECOVERY PROJECTS going, which are:
(1) OPERATION 1: QUEEN NANCY: Gas needed with a bridge washed out crossing
I have a team dedicated to keeping Bee Tree/Summer Haven isolated community stocked with gas that Queen Nancy is feeding and mothering as she does (I think she has collected 15 daughters so far?!?!). I have been in constant communication with her. I will let you know what they need specifically, but luckily they are pretty stocked up--of course they are if any of you know her from CREIA! We are going to buy her a generator and then get reimbursed by FEMA’s program ($612 reimbursement I believe). The tricky thing is that it has to be hiked in, so wondering if a big generator is the solution OR does it need to be a Tesla Power Wall or something easier to hike in? Regardless she is going to need gas hiked in every few days to keep feeding her community.
(2) OPERATION 2: Nesbitt Creek/Garren Creek/Fairview Propane, Zip ties, and duct tape
We are also providing propane constantly to Nesbitt Chapel in Garren Creek in Fairview that was decimated. If we get them stocked up, we will head to the next church and start supplying them as they are feeding entire communities off of propane, and there is a propane shortage as FOUR PROPANE COMPANIES were washed away—that’s why there are so many tanks lying about town which I was informed by AIRGAS about and they directed us to BLOSSMAN GAS, but we need propane brought in from outside of the Hurricane destruction path. This can be and endless project until life gets somewhat back to normal, which sounds like it will take at least a year. My boots on the ground propane pickup and delivery man Steve Weaver, ex-military of course, reports that it is a complete war zone there and they needs LOTS more help, but for now, we are helping them keep their people fed all day every day with a daily delivery of propane as long as the funds keep coming in….
(3) Operation 3: AdaptHealth: Oxygen Tanks Mandatory Evacuation for Patients Without Power
People that rely on oxygen without power MUST evacuate until power is back on as there is an oxygen tank shortage and they only last offline for 9 hours. People are constantly coming to get them, but some people can't leave and some elderly folks don't want to leave their homes but THEY MUST. We are also working on getting 5 pods delivered that we can stock with the specific needs of these patients that we reach out to (apparently you can find out info from the Registry of Deeds about who is on oxygen and such; haven't had time to look into that more yet if someone else wants to and can pinpoint specific areas / nursing homes / etc. that might need emergency oxygen tanks and/or folks need wellness checks to then know they must evacuate if they are without power. If they DO have power, then we can at least get a grocery/supplies list from them, order them, and then deliver them direct.
My friend April Nash with the Western Women’s Business Center is working on getting 5 pods delivered so we can easily store these supplies. We’re also looking for an offgrid shower solutions and a portajon to keep the hundreds of volunteers and workers-turned-volunteers that are making recovery happen at my business neighbor’s AdpatHealth/Palmetto Oxygen, Living Stone Custom Homes, Atelier Mason & Co., I.D.ology, Ernest Cowarehousing, Devil’s Foot Beverage, Sweeten Creek Antiques, and so many others that have been hit hard but are out here turning their businesses into recovery machines. We need your help to take care of the Asheville Design District business’s, some who lost everything, some who are in cleanup mode, and some who were underwater. We need to help get the ones that can back open and back online, hence our giant need for a Starlink to serve all of the businesses in this corridor and the volunteers and the workers that all need to be connected easily and online easily to get even more recovery work done. Please help us get a STARlink by Monday so we can do all of this good starting on Monday, October 7: https://www.facebook.com/events/414214664759776
(4) OPERATION 4: FEED THE RIVER ARTS DISTRICT ARTISTS
My buddy Scott Varn (founder of HarmonyAVL+media who we bought it from 3.5 years ago during COVID and which is now flooded with a very uncertain future) wants to feed the River Arts District artists impacted by this horrific event. He’s now focused on his nonprofit, Preserving a Picturesque America, and Saluda Studios. He is a great beacon of the arts community and even has been on TV quite a bit, so he’s a local celebrity to boot and just a hilarious, smart, and charming-as-heck fella. Come let him and some other volunteers including Tall Greg Art and Laura Jurgens, Sex Talk for Smart People Podcast host. They are going to be our feeding brigade which we will keep up every day at 5pm for our volunteers and our affected area artists with some tunes, some drinks, some cheers, and a hot meal that you don’t have to think about or wash up after (with no water which is such a freaking pain) or do anything but sit, enjoy and eat.
(5) OPERATION 5: Small Business Community #HurricaneHeleneRecovery ***************** Launching on Monday, October 7 ***************************************
Donate $1 million, we will flip it into $10 million for this community with a collection of experts, consultants, and mentors including:
Leigh Ann Cairns of Snow In July Designs, who made the stickers above #TogetherWeRecover
Tracey Eames of Teames & Co.
Julie Ball of Subscription Box Basics
Jami Daniels of Ernest Cowarehousing
Faith Bischoff of Goodwill
April Nash of Western Women’s Business Center
Daphne Carson of A-B Tech
Dr. Susan Muntean of UNCA
Sabrina Delk, Director of Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Mars Hill University
Jennie King, Sr. SBA Business Development Officer for First Commonwealth Bank
Many, many more that will be activated, helpful and participate in making our office a hub of recovery for the small business community. I think we are at least #100Strong in our women entrepreneur ecosystem with various skills and expertise and focuses and all the things, so we are confident that we can make this an incubator of ecommerce amazingness, with the goal of creating a subscription #828RecoveryBox for each county that has been impacted, starting with our neighborhood of Asheville Design District and fanning out from there to help create a new revenue stream for established businesses that are going to feel the economic turmoil and uncertainty for years to come. Plus, the grants and the aide and the fundraisers and the support and the media coverage will eventually die down, so we need to take action on ways to make money NOW for businesses struggling because bills don’t stop even if our tourism and economy and leafpeeping season and The Biltmore and all the things have pretty much come to a screeching dead halt.
We will also serve as a pop-up merch store for all #828Recovery items, including this adorableness from my brand designer, Leigh Ann Cairns of Snow in July Designs. She is working on a Mad Genius Studios hoodie RIGHT NOW that is going to be so freaking cute and feature her new design (I think she literally made it like day 1 or 2 of #HurricaneHelene, I am not sure but it was early days).
You can order stickers from her now and we are working on building a team that can help us build out #828Recovery online shop, help with all the mockups after Leigh Ann creates amazingness, someone to help us with printing, distribution, etc. etc., and someone to help us with shipping (unless we use a drop ship company…)., taking cashier shifts so we can sell the merch on behalf of businesses, artists, etc. so they can stay focused on their recovery needs. We will keep meticulous books and make sure that everyone gets their costs covered, makes a slice of the revenue, and another slice goes directly to us purchasing the supplies we need to keep the hub running and hopefully eventually fund the other four projects so don’t have to keep asking folks for money. But right now, the best way you can support us THIS WEEK is with cold, hard cash as all the supply drives are going on and all kinds of fundraisers, but we need to feed people THIS WEEK October 7-11. Please help us by donating as much as you can here:
This is the hardest one to execute by far and I need at least 10 volunteers ideally from the small business community and/or with excellent digital marketing skills including clipping videos, booking PR opportunities, printmakers, on-demand printers, sticker makers—all things merch, ecommerce, and online. These can certainly be laptop warriors from anywhere—I just need your help desperately to keep getting the word out to as many people as we can to make sure that we convey to the world just how dire this situation is)
Starting on Monday, October 7, we are going to become a hub for the small business community from 9-5pm. Bring your laptop, phone, and maybe even a third device if you have it and get some work done (we hope to have STARLINK by then; if anyone has a connection or could buy and ship one to 121 Sweeten Creek Road Suite 20 Asheville NC 28803 (all delivery trucks come here as my office is part of the giant Living Stone Custom Home, Atleier Mason Co., and I.D.ology compound that gets huge deliveries all the time which means we can literally take semis, full palettes of goods, etc. etc.). Ship whatever you want here and give them my phone number: 419-651-0074. If you don't have work to do, then come volunteer and help us start back up our local economic engine as we have to capture the rest of the world NOW while all of this is still VERY FRESH and helicopters literally fly over us all day and night.
We are going to support the #SmallBusinessHeleneRecovery by partnering with so, so many of you to:
Help businesses that could OPEN WITHIN A WEEK reopen by whatever means necessary (help with staffing, water, gas, propane, etc.) with a special emphasis on getting all the restaurants back up and operating as we need FOOD and any time there is a hot meal the lines are out the door. We definitely need a CALL FOR FOOD TRUCKS from outside the disaster zone, but people are broke and not receiving benefits yet SOOOOO it's hard to shell out money for food. I personally have been living off ramen and soups and crackers. I would love some protein today, ha!
Print on demand merch that serves as a fundraiser and a way for small businesses impacted to stay alive during this chaos
Figure out ecommerce strategies, including a subscription/holiday gift box representing every single county impacted (if you have a favorite products business that is in the Helene destruction path that is still open or would be interested in operating out of our subscription box incubator or having their product be part of their county's box (I have heard there were 25 counties impacted, I am guessing that number is even higher). We want EVERYONE ALL OVER THE WORLD to do their holiday shopping from our devastated community
Help with filling out all the ridiculous paperwork including unemployment, FEMA, grants, etc.
Expert advice for how to navigate all this and grow your business in a time of total uncertainty and chaos. Because bills don't pay themselves and our infrastructure to support during times of crisis is trash and needs a complete overhaul (future problem for us to tackle).
Feed the small business community and our activated volunteers dinner every night with propane tanks, food trucks, turkey pots, etc. SO KEEP THE PROPANE COMING.
We need all sorts of office supplies--office chairs that go fully up and down (my counters are a weird height); giant post it notes, pens, post its, coffee, tea, fruit, snacks, ACTUALLY WE NEED A FULL SIZE FRIDGE TOO, ONLY CURRENTLY HAVE A MINI, an electric plug-in skillet and any other type of kitchen appliance that helps feed large groups of people (a few more giant turkey pots ran with propane would be nice.
Other office-, co-working type things that I am not thinking of right now
Portajons (ideally with showers)
RV parked here with bathrooms, showers, and WIFI
Vehicles with satellite WIFI that can park here to give more small businesses access to the internet, which is still sorely lacking almost everywhere (I can not use the internet yet at my West Asheville house and most people still can't get on the internet
Support all the RAD artists by helping them with merch, funding new studios, etc. etc.
That's all for now. Love y'all and thank you for this outpouring of support.
Follow along with live updates on Instagram at @ShawndraRussell, Facebook lives shawndra.thompsonrussell/, and YouTube (PLEASE HELP ME GET TO 50 SUBSCRIBERS SO MY MOBILE PODCAST SETUP IS EASIER AND I CAN ACTUALLY USE MY MEVO AND IPAD SO I CAN CONTINUOUSLY HAVE YOUTUBE RUNNING SO YOU CAN SEE THE REAL WORLD REALITY OF WHAT’S HAPPENING. SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@MadGeniusStudiosAVL.
YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS MUST BE AT 50 BEFORE I CAN STREAM LIVE FROM MY IPAD, which would make my life SO MUCH EASIER. Plus you’ll get to witness some of my out and about adventures in recovery-ing such as weekly trips to the store in Greenville or Spartanburg to load up a Uhaul with supplies. Truth is, right now I can only stream from my laptop so if someone could bug YouTube to waive that rule for me (or just help me get to 50 followers today), then you would literally be making my mobile podcast setup like 1,000 times easier, I promise. I want to get information out to you and share interviews and do all the things, but the limitations of no good WiFi yet and no internet yet and so many other things means I need your help in making my life easier and making it easier for me to get you daily, consistent, all-the-time coverage as we get through this next month with no water.
IT’S NOT GETTING BETTER HERE YET BECAUSE WE AREN’T EVEN STABILIZED YET, THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE MISSING, THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE THAT NEED SUPPLIES HIKED IN, THERE ARE STILL BUSINESSES LITERALLY SUMERGED IN THE WATER…. PLUS 4/5 OF OUR PROPANE SUPPLIERS WASHED AWAY SO PROPANE IS LOW.
Peace and love, y’all. Be extra kind to one another today.
