Support High Top Bakery's Recovery After Hurricane Helene

High Top Bread Company is a 4-year-old bakery located in hard-hit Swannanoa, NC, where scores of structures were swept away in floodwaters during Hurricane Helene. High Top bakers/founders Juliet Ramirez and Ben Engebretson need help in getting their bakery back on its feet due to the damage to the building, the business, and the subsequent total loss of income.

High Top’s bakery was flooded, requiring removal of filth, spoiled bread, equipment, and damaged drywall. Virtually all area residents and businesses lost all electricity and water for nearly a month, making it impossible to even start the cleanup. Even now, lack of potable running water limits the resumption of bread making significantly.

High Top sells its excellent sourdough breads (boules, baguettes, focaccias, and cookies) at a variety of farmers' markets across the devastated region. The hurricane shut down their markets completely for weeks, leaving Juliet and Ben with no income. As they try to re-open, markets have had to relocate and are attracting much smaller numbers of (flood-affected) customers. Many other vendors’ businesses are gone.

In short, High Top lost both its production facility and its distribution channels. Juliet and Ben filed a business insurance claim, but their insurer denied the claim on the basis that the loss was precipitated by a flood and therefore not covered by their policy. Nevertheless, they are committed to building the business back, however slowly, selling less bread at fewer and smaller markets. They have also committed to baking loaves to donate to local food programs while the area rebuilds. Money donated will go directly to paying rent on the bakery, the replacement of lost supplies and equipment including proofing baskets, refrigerators, and baking flour. Please donate to this fund to allow the business to survive this terrible storm. Thank you for contributing.

Mimi Mattis and Peter Engebretson are the parents/in-laws of the owners and don't want to see Ben and Juliet's hard and successful work of business development taken away by Hurricane Helene.