Support VJ's Auto Service Asheville after Hurricane Helene

Luke Mansell is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Ricky Brown.

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We just cannot express what our community is currently going through. As longtime Asheville residents, our hearts are aching in a special way. Lives have been lost. Businesses are gone. Buildings we just never could have imagined being gone have washed away - including ours. VJ's Auto Service has been a staple to the Asheville community and the River Arts District for over 49 years offering dependable and affordable Auto Service to many. A family business started by Ricky Brown, and ran by Ricky Brown Jr., and Tracey Banks, son and daughter.

All of our equipment is completely gone. Our building completely washed away. Our land will be likely undeveloped for the foreseeable future.

We never would have thought the flood waters could get this high. We left the building the night before, expecting water, but not devastation. This has completely blindsided us, and in addition, our neighboring businesses, like Pleb Asheville Winery, Foundy, and Marquee Asheville. It's hard to imagine our business corridor changed forever, our neighborhood for so many decades.

Were now left with the daunting decision on what to do next, with limited resources and uncertainty of where to go, or who to turn to. Our hearts will always be with our original building, located at 500 Lyman Street.

We truly take pride in being a vital resource for the community as an affordable place to go, a family owned business, and a place where multiple generations of family go for their auto service. For years, we have done work for Working Wheels, North Carolina DSS, and Land of Sky. Without our building, many are left without their trusted source for fixing and maintaining their reliable transportation, and we are left without our livelihood or a way to help our community and amazing customers. We also lost 2 customer vehicles, 3 shop-owned trucks/rollbacks that we use to transport and pick-up/drop-off customers vehicles.

We would appreciate any help we can receive from the community. We hope in some way we have helped you or someone you know over the years. It's what we do. We want to return, stronger and better than before, to keep helping - but we do need some assistance in launching these efforts -- like finding a new location, buying new equipment, and paying off lost equipment. We set this goal to adhere to our costs of moving, finding a new location, purchasing new tools and equipment, and keeping ourselves afloat during this unprecedented time.

It will take some time, but we will get there, and hopefully with your help!

Thank you all that have helped, checked in, and supported us through the years. We are WNC strong.

We found a clown washed up nearby where the building once was. We put it on top of the rock/rubble pile of where the building layed. "Hope.. even when the creek rises" is something our dad Ricky wrote.