Help PlaySpark Recover from Devastating Flood

UPDATE: Thanks to you all, we now have the funds to rebuild and start again. We have closed this GoFundMe to future donations and encourage any additional donations be made directly to Hurricane Helene relief organizations.

Hi PlaySparklers,

As many of you have been following in the news and in our stories, we are in crisis. On Friday morning our cities of Marshall and Asheville, NC were completely destroyed by Hurricane Helene. We are both still without electricity and running water. Serena’s home has a massive tree in it. Kylie’s home is thankfully in tact without damage.

Our new studio, however, has been completely destroyed. The building that houses our studio is directly next to the French Broad River and it was overrun with 6 feet of water throughout the duration of the storm. Kylie was able to make it into the town of Marshall on foot today and made it to our shop to take a look at the damage. She called me sobbing at the site of it.

We have spent two years saving up to be able to sign a lease on a space that could allow PlaySpark to grow. In September, we made the biggest purchase of inventory we have ever made in order to meet our new growing shipping numbers. While we do have insurance, it does not cover water damage. So, we have lost approximately $80,000 worth of inventory that we will not be able to restore.

For our customers who have purchased and left product in our store, please know we will reimburse you for your items within the week.

We have spent hours crying over the devastation of our town and our business. You all know better than anyone just how much PlaySpark means to us. We will do absolutely everything we can to make it out of this and rebuild our dream. We ask for your patience, thoughts and prayers while we navigate how to rebuild from this and make a plan for how to order inventory and ship again.

Many of you recommended we open a GoFundMe account, so we have set one up. It’s so unbelievably hard for us to ask for help but we know we have a long road ahead and to lose PlaySpark would be a loss that is simply too large to bear.