At 8:40pm on the evening of Thursday, Oct 12, 2023 a fire started inside of a small business located in the historic Scott's Corner Building of Newcastle, CA. 48 Planks, builder of bespoke, artisan furniture that can be seen in homes and businesses across Northern California, suffered a total loss. The fire destroyed everything, forcing its owner, David Beseler, beloved by his community and his clientele, to rebuild his livelihood from the ashes of the fire. Due to a complexity within his insurance, he must rely on the generous donations of people like you.

A personal message from David:

A HUMBLE ASK AS REBUILDING BEGINS

After a week and a half of processing the loss of our space and equipment, I am ready to begin the process of remaking 48 Planks. I am beyond grateful for the well wishes and offers of community support. I am also very uncomfortable being in a position of needing to request this assistance. But here we go!

I won’t linger here other than to offer some insight. But…initially we had believed that most, if not all of our losses, would be covered by insurance. Sadly they won’t. Our policy had been cancelled after an underwriting review, ironically likely due to fire risk in the area. The notice had been sent to my business location (we don’t get mail there) instead of to the mailing address that was on file with the insurer. I am not happy about this but we can’t dwell and choose to move on.

That being said, and again with the deepest gratitude to my community for its support, I have an ask that reflects only our immediate needs. Below is a list of items that we will need in order to get back up and running. If you have any of these items available for donation, or even as a temporary offering for the short term, I would be grateful. Need not be new but should be in good serviceable condition. A temporary offering of a workshop location is also included but we are sourcing funds to provide for the cost of that if need be. We anticipate an initial 3-6 month window for a workspace.

We have had several vendors and friends (mostly vendors who became friends) offer materials support to help fill existing orders that they will provide as soon as we have a dedicated space. Unbelievable generosity ❤️

If you are able to offer support pertaining to the list above, kindly private message me here or text me at the number below and I will be in contact shortly.

It’s a lot to process but I truly believe that this community is rallying behind our business and I will hold this so close to my heart forever.

With deepest gratitude,

David Beseler

48 Planks

List of immediate needs:

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In light of such loss, David is in a positive mental space, consciously and admirably accepting what took place with gratitude and opting to view this as an opportunity for personal and professional growth. He has received an incredible outpouring of love and support from the community since the fire. Your donations will most certainly be met with humility and appreciation.

Photographs of his work can be viewed here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/48Planks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/48planks/