Rebuild Harry's Hardware & The Den

Hi, I'm Johanna Thibault, co-owner of Harry's Hardware and the Den in Cabot, Vermont. On July 10-11, Vermont was hit with devasting flash floods and Cabot was sadly not spared. The culvert that moves water across Main St in the village was overrun by the incredible amount of water and debris from the storm, and within moments the Harry's Hardware building was overtaken by water. By some luck, we were able to stack all the mulch and soil on our porches against the front door and this act, while probably foolish for our safety, saved the main floor of our business. Sadly, the water was fierce and in mere minutes, eroded and decimated the building. Both sides of the building eroded compromising the structure of the building, washing away the underground storage tanks for our gas and diesel fuel, and destroying our wastewater connection. We also discovered during our assessment this morning that the river changed its course and took off a portion of the foundation and the river is now running through the cellar of our building! It is a harrowing sight!

We were absolutely blown away by the response from the community. We saw their hearts and we immediately realized how important Harry's Hardware & The Den is to the community. It brought back our fight and our strength to persevere! We want to be here for YOU. We might need to look and operate a little differently for a while, but our goal is to get things open so that the community has their hub, their Third Place, to come together during these hard times and to rejoice in the victories as we rebuild Cabot! We also know that hardware is a strong need right now, and getting fuel back on in Cabot is a must.

Insurance money is tenuous, and any FEMA relief could be many months or even years away, and we want to rebuild NOW! The removal of the underground storage tank alone is financially crushing, and we can't reopen until we can reconstruct our wastewater line connection. Did I mention that the driveway where all our infrastructure existed is now a ravine?!

If you have anything to give, we would be grateful for any and every dollar. The road ahead is ominous and overwhelming, but this community and this business are worth it all, every minute and every penny.

Please consider giving what you are able, and we promise to come back stronger and better for Cabot and for you!