Support Camille's Bake Sales for Community Recovery
Donation protected
I'm taking Walnut Family Bakery on the road this fall for a series of traveling bake sales. They'll act as fundraisers for this small rural town that's been such a meaningful home to me. Each event's profits will be donated to a different integral organization or business in Marshall / Madison County, North Carolina that is either directly involved in significant community aid or that was severely impacted by the storm.
My goals for the traveling bake sales:
- Contribute to the ongoing relief effort, helping to look past the short term into medium & long term recovery, acknowledging how much and how long it will take for a small town to rebound from such physical & economic destruction
- Continue bringing awareness to the devastation that this region sustained from Helene, even as the outside attention and headlines inevitably wane over time
- Continue working & making income during a time when the community to which I typically sell my baked goods needs to put it's money towards more urgent needs
What this GoFundMe is for:
- Covering the cost of travel to execute roughly 6 bake sales in different cities
- Allowing me to use a "pay what you can" structure when doing bake sales here in WNC - these funds will help me supplement sales for holiday pop ups at home, so that I can provide joy and comfort in the form of baked goods to those in this disaster zone, even if it's not something they have the ability to purchase right now
- Maximizing the funds that get donated from each bake sale by helping to cover the costs of operation
- Keeping Walnut Family Bakery on track to open its doors, which I've been working so hard towards for the past year
In Full Transparency
Like most in the restaurant sector of WNC, my income and the operations of my business have been completely disrupted by Hurricane Helene. For the past 2 years I've been working 3 jobs, every penny of which I need to make ends meet each month. All of these jobs are in the hospitality industry and all 3 came to a sudden and indefinite halt after the storm. One of my 2 full time jobs has been my Tiny Bake Sale series, which I've been actively transitioning towards the opening of my brick-and-mortar business, Walnut Family Bakery, just outside of Marshall, NC. I was pushing to open my doors by the end of this year, but now it's not going to be possible to do so before spring 2025.
I'm dedicated to being an active part of this incredibly special community in Marshall made up of farmers, artists, tradesmen, generous and kind working-class people. It has been the grassroots efforts that have made the biggest difference and shown the most care in the 3 weeks since Helene. And there is still a long road ahead. Thank you for helping me to continue to give back to this place that has shown me so much love.
Organizer
Camille Cogswell
Organizer
Marshall, NC