The remnants of Hurricane Helene that pushed through the southeastern United States over the weekend took an enormous toll on western North Carolina, home to more than 100 breweries, many of which have been severely damaged or destroyed.
As internet and mobile phone coverage remains spotty – the power is out, water facilities are broken, supplies are dwindling, and roads remain closed or impassible – the full picture of what the storm did is coming into focus.
The early images show breweries under water or completely washed away by flood waters and mudslides. Sporadic social media posts from breweries in and around Asheville, note that many will be closed indefinitely and that some are still looking for employees, neighbors, and relatives.
“It’s dire,” says one brewery employee.
As is often the case after a natural disaster or emergency event, the larger brewing industry is banding together to raise money for those affected. This includes a charity beer.
The need for help and fundraising is immediate, says Lisa Parker, the executive director of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild. Rather than creating a recipe and asking breweries around the country to brew, they are simply asking breweries and bars to designate a tap and call it “Pouring For Neighbors.”
Interested companies can visit the guild website to sign up their support.
Shorthand the guild is calling the initiative “Neighbors” and by having a beer pouring as soon as today, funds can start going to NC.gov/donate and directly impacting those affected by the storm.
“Through the “Pouring for Neighbors” initiative, we invite breweries across the country to designate a beer, with proceeds supporting disaster relief efforts. Together, we can help our neighbors rebuild, pint by pint.”
Down the road Parker says there is a plan to create a Neighbors specific beer recipe and asking breweries around the country to brew that with proceeds going to specific charities, similar to the Resilience beer Sierra Nevada spearheaded a few years ago following California wildfires, or the Kokua project Maui Brewing created last year.
The guild is talking about additional fundraisers, possible festivals, and other events to raise money for those in the brewing community who were impacted, but that will come later.
“We’re going to need everyone’s endurance on this,” says Parker.
Additional updates will be made on the guild’s Facebook page.
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