Help Clay on First Cover Fire Damages

On Sunday April 14th, we had a fire in our pottery studio. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but there have been a lot of expenses in order to mitigate the damages. The Fire Department had to cut a hole in our commercial garage door to get to the fire, which now needs to be completely replaced, along with shelving that also burnt down in the fire. We also had extensive smoke and soot damage covering the entirety of our classroom, production area, and retail area, which all had to be scrubbed, sanitized, and chemically neutralized. Furthermore, we had to rent expensive air scrubbers (purifiers) to help the air quality, our locks were damaged from the Fire Department so we had to hire a locksmith to repair them, we hired additional cleaning people on top of paying our own staff to help clean, etc.

The damages so far are looking to be around $10,000 but may continue to rise a little with some air quality testing, bills from the city for boarding up the hole in the garage door the night of the fire, etc.

Unfortunately, as a business Clay on First is not in a financial position to be able to absorb these costs. Last summer, we had some substantial production issues and had a large cut in our revenue. We worked really hard to maintain our entire staff and, thanks to the sacrifices of some who were able to lose some hours temporarily, we were able to avoid any layoffs. However, in that process we still took on about $60,000 in debt, some of which we've been able to pay down, but we were still carrying a majority of it when the fire happened and can't manage to take on anymore debt. So, we are here today asking our community for a little help during this unexpected hardship and sincerely appreciate any and all help, even if it's just re-sharing this gofundme ❤️ Thank you.

Update: Hi Everyone,

We’ve increased our goal from 10,000 to 15,000 just to make sure we’re able to cover any expenses that may arise going forward. Additionally, if we end up with any money beyond our expenses, we would love to take a few hundred dollars and throw a big party for the community to thank everyone for their support with free mini classes, open studio time, demonstrations, and plenty of drinks & food for everyone. If we have anything extra beyond that, we’d love to pay off some of our debt a little bit, increase the free classes we offer, and address a few a projects that have been on the back burner for studio improvements and services we offer the community. Thank you for your support!

-Clay on First