Contribute to WNC's Tri-Force Recovery from Hurricane Helene

Hey there, everyone! My name is Morgan. I created Western North Carolina's 1st female-owned comics and collectibles shop. I've had the same location for the past 9 years in West Asheville. In that time I've gotten to watch your kids grow up and move away to college and hear about their adventures when they've come to visit home. I've gotten to sell the very first comic or nerd toy to your kids who didn't even exist yet when the store first opened in 2015. I've hosted engagement parties for couples who've met in this "Nerd Sanctuary". And I even hosted memorials for customers who are no longer with us.

I've always had my top 3 role-models to help guide me through decisions: Mr. Rogers, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Wonder Woman and along with my own heart and wide ranging experiences (& a small team of some of the most amazing employees and friends) we've maintained the top rating for comics and collectibles shops in Western North Carolina.

So that gives those who don't know us, yet, a bit of our story and I'll go ahead and get to the point of this GoFundMe...

We've fought and succeeded through the 2020 pandemic and were just getting back on to regular (though modest) profit margins when Hurricane Helene decimated much of our city, Asheville North Carolina.

*You are welcome to look us up on Youtube to see various documentaries and news articles related to the good Morgan's Comics has done for the community and what we and those in our neighborhood have suffered in the aftermath of what is frequently considered the 3rd most devastating hurricane to hit the USA mainland.

*Caution: these videos often bring viewers to tears*

Months after the storm visitor numbers have not resumed (yet), small business grants are delayed until late winter or early spring, savings to protect the store are practically nonexistent, and all of us have been tirelessly working as volunteers to man the counters as to provide for our Nerd Sanctuary and to support our community as we recover.

As it is not sustainable to continue indefinitely as volunteers we are aiming to raise 10k to help bring our staff back to payroll. That amount would be sufficient to cover payroll until grants can (fingers crossed) be approved and to get through the well below freezing weather this season has already been offering us as well as to get to early spring in which we'll begin seeing more tourist traffic again.

Our CALL TO ACTION is therefore donations towards helping our staff regain their financial footing by building up 10k.

If you are unable to donate at this time, please, consider buying your holiday gifts from our website at www.morganscomics.com.

Though there are a slew of honest hardworking and uniquely incredible small local businesses and a warm neighborly community of citizens here sometimes change is necessary to help nudge progress in the most beneficial direction and especially in the time since the beginning of the 2020 pandemic and now with the destructive lacerations whipped across the customarily breathtaking WNC mountainsides and valleys from Hurricane Helene.

Support what makes Asheville what it is. Celebrate the creativity of our local artists of all kinds. Contribute to us rebuilding!

We are asking that anyone able to help us re-stabilize from the financial hardship put on us by this disastrous geological event, help us recoup. Anyone with the means, please, answer our call to action.

Don't just imagine how much better for the neighborhood this could be, believe in it and contribute to our efforts to make it happen. We have the reputation, the connections, the passion, the experience and the creative spirit that it will take to make this for us all.

Thank you for reading about our mission and also of our recent heartbreak. As a longtime customer of Morgan's Comics said the day after the storm, "The Nerd Sanctuary is the ONLY place I feel safe."