Emergency Aid for Black Rabbit Vintage

UPDATE

Thank you to everyone that has donated and shared and reached out. This has been a hugely labor intensive process and I have had to raise my fundraising goal. As I've been processing what I was able to remove from the church, I have had to let go of another large chunk of my inventory due to damages sustained in the fire. I am doing the best I can to clean and salvage these pieces, but a lot is just beyond the point of repair. I have had to let go of almost all of my fur and leather items I had stored at the church, which is a lot in itself. I have been able to take a look at about half of what I was able to rescue. I am unfortunately anticipating much more inventory loss as I go. Please keep sharing. Please keep donating if you can. I appreciate you all endlessly. Thank you.

-Madelyn

Hi, my name is Madelyn Suzanne and I own Black Rabbit Vintage in Benton Park, St. Louis, MO. In the early hours of June 29th, I learned that Sk8 Libourious in North City was on fire. This, in itself, is a tragedy. Not only was "the church" a space that was loved by many, held memories for many, was home to many, it was also where I stored a huge chunk of the back stock for my shop. Luckily, my storage room did not fully burn in the fire and I was able to get a majority of my things out of the building. Unfortunately, a lot of my inventory has been badly damaged or destroyed by soot, ceiling/plaster debris, and is sopping wet. A lot of fur, antique silk, and fine wool did not survive. I also unfortunately found out yesterday that my shop insurance does not cover my off premise inventory storage.

As a small business owner that has also spent years cultivating my collection, this is devastating. Mentally, emotionally, and finacially. If you know my story, this is what I do. I own and fully operate my business myself. I started this from the ground up without a loan and this has all been built out of pocket. I am still sorting and trying to asses my damamges. I will be attempting to clean, salvage, and save as much as I can in this mess. This will be a very tedious and expensive process. To help cover the cleaning cost, damamges, and the few thousands of dollars of inventory that was destroyed, I am asking your for help. As far as Ive gotten in sussing out unusable inventory, my losses will exceed what I am asking for of $5000.

Thank you so much to everyone that has reached out to me with support, love, and condolences. It means the absolute world to me. Please share and donate if you can. Anything helps.

Love you, mean it

Madelyn