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Support OWL Bakery Staff in Hurricane Helene Recovery

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To our wonderful OWL Bakery community,

We want to emphasize that with the scale of Hurricane Helene's damage, please donate to life-saving community efforts first and foremost. However, if you have any additional funds to spare our team will be immensely grateful for your support.

We're the faces you see every day behind the counter, who hand you your morning coffee and your favorite pastries. We're the ones who craft the naturally leavened loaves, the croissants, danishes, & cookies that fill your days with a little bit of sweetness.

Hurricane Helene has devastated Asheville and the surrounding western North Carolina region; the level of destruction is unimaginable even to those of us experiencing it firsthand. So many folks have lost their homes, businesses, and livelihoods. While both OWL locations have thankfully been spared, the city of Asheville is still experiencing major power outages and no certain timeline of when running water will be available. Our staff is now navigating the challenges of property loss, displaced living, broken hearts, and the looming stress of not knowing when we'll be back to work. Many of us have remained in town to provide information and resources for those in need, or are helping coordinate these efforts from afar.

It's difficult to ask for help, but we need it now more than ever. The bakery has grown into employing 36 hardworking and kind humans (many of whom have been with the bakery for years!), and it is uncertain when it will be able to open and operate at full capacity. Our team needs to find new places to live, replace essential items, and bridge the gap until we can get back to doing what we love: baking & slinging beverages for you.

How Your Donation Will Help:

Your support will help us:

Find new homes: Some of us need to find new places to live, and that eventually will mean coming up with deposits and first month's rent.

Replace what we've lost: Some of us will need to buy new clothes, cars, bedding, kitchen supplies, and other essentials.

Cover living expenses: With the bakery closed, we're worried about paying our bills and putting food on the table.

We miss seeing your faces and serving you our expertly crafted breads, pastries, and coffee. Your generosity will help us get back on our feet and rebuild our lives, and this support will be indispensable in helping us to help others in need.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your kindness and support. We can't wait to see you again soon.

With love and gratitude,
The OWL Bakery Team


Abbie preparing the morning pastries.

Marnie, Cristian and Lucy! <3333

Caroline, Anna, Susannah, Marnie and Renee carving apple heads just a few weeks ago.

Caroline cutting into one of our butter blocks!


Front of House angel Cristian getting to sneak in and help make some coffee gravy.

Giovanni and Chloe preparing the fruit tarts.

Davis leading the community bake in August!

Caroline and Abbie shaping the almond rose croissants.

Celebrating our sweet baker Caroline H's birthday this July.


Abbie's nieces come visit them at the bakery! <3

Post-Helene:

Team + friends cooking up a warm meal to share. We were so, so fortunate to receive power back at our West location within 24 hours.

Some of the team back together at our West location on the Saturday after Helene.

Some team members with car access are doing supply runs to be distributed to community members; Cristian had organized this staff pantry.

Davis collecting a water bin in Virginia to help bake bread again for the community. Stay tuned!

A short list of organizations to support currently doing essential work in WNC:
Beloved Asheville
WNC Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR)
Appalachian Medical Solidarity/Asheville Survival Program
Pansy Collective
PODER Emma
Donate

Donations 

  • Emily Samsel
    • $100
    • 10 d
  • Anonymous
    • $200
    • 14 d
  • Katie Godwin
    • $100
    • 14 d
  • Robert D. Anderson
    • $50
    • 18 d
  • Camino Bakery
    • $77
    • 21 d
Donate

Organizer

OWL Bakery
Organizer
Asheville, NC

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