Support Old Fort's Recovery After Hurricane Helene

Hi. I'm Amy Davis, owner and operator of the Davis Country Store & Cafe, and President of the Old Fort Business Association in Old Fort, NC.

On September 27th Hurricane Helene hit WNC leaving a path of destruction and devastation through our state. Our town of Old Fort was hit very hard, and our community has been left in tatters. In just a few hours, half of our towns residents became homeless, and everyone lost power, water, connectivity through phone and internet. Not to mention down trees and landslides cut everyone off from traveling to check on one another or get to resources.

We are centrally located in town, on Main Street, and thankfully our store and cafe were untouched. On Sunday we finally were able to get off our property and into town, and we opened our kitchen to cook. We started with just biscuits, but as the community began bringing us what they had in their freezers and fridges, we were able to make lunch, and then dinner. By Tuesday our little store and cafe was filled with ice chests full of meats, dairy products, produce, and frozen meals. But that is all going away quickly.

With no power we have been doing all of this in generators and propane, which is expensive. We've had to buy supplies we could not get donated in time, which has been expensive. When this food is gone we'll need to buy what is needed and not getting donated. We feed approx 600 people a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And we are feeding them well, not disaster food. We are trying to keep home feeling like home. It doesn't take much more to make chili and rice, or a great stew, or a big batch of pasta.

We also have businesses and homes with damage, and people needing things immediately that will take money. While insurance and fema will eventually provide funds for those affected, there is an immediate need to get people back on their feet.

Donating to us will help provide more food to those in town. While many are getting power back, there won't be water flowing for weeks. And after that people will need to restock their fridges, refill their gas and propane tanks, and feel whole again. Every little bit helps, and we, as a central part of the community, can make sure the healing continues.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your donation. Updates will be made as I'm able to upload them. Phone and internet is still very spotty and it took a good long while just to get this bit up. Bear with us as we update this as often as possible.