Hi, and welcome to WNC Original Music.Not really going to have an episode this week.
This is, of course, the week or weeks after the hurricane and flood that came through Western North Carolina as well as other parts of the South, creating just unprecedented devastation.
So I'm going to put the podcast on hold for at least a couple of weeks, probably a little bit longer. But in the meantime, I'm going to bring you a couple of special episodes, just really just asking you, among other things, to donate your money.
It just comes down to that.People here, there is FEMA, despite what you may have heard.There's FEMA.There are state resources here.They are doing everything they can.They are very busy.They are helping in lots of ways.
They're already rebuilding, really already quicker than I thought they might. They're doing a great job.But also, even though there will be FEMA disaster recovery and funds for people, there are things people need right now that you can help with.
So I'm going to encourage you to go to AshevilleRelief.com.That's not just relief for Asheville, it's relief for all of Western North Carolina.And I do want to emphasize there that Asheville is getting a lot of help.
The outer areas are getting a lot of help, but sometimes the outer areas get overlooked a little bit.I've seen a little bit of that this week myself.So I just want to encourage you to go to that website, AshevilleRelief.com.
Again, I encourage you to give monetary donations when you can, as you are able.But also, there's a lot of options up there to donate goods and services, as well as your time.
So if you live in the area and can do so safely, there are a lot of opportunities up there for donating your time as well. I want to say, you've seen on the news a lot of the devastation and the tragedy that's here, a lot of the stories.
But I just want to share two quick stories that I saw this week.For my job, I travel a lot.I drive around all day, basically.And I saw two sites that really made a difference to me this week.
One time I was driving a large city road, and I saw a large group of people.And I didn't know what was going on.As I approached, it was just a huge
gathering of people, lots of tables, and it was one of our local businesses just giving away food, people pitching in, and that's not a one-time thing.That's happening all over Western North Carolina.There's just all kinds of places.
A lot of our businesses are giving away food or donating their services, seeing people give away legal services as they're able to, graphic design services for businesses that are rebuilding, just come to mind, just a whole bunch of stuff.
I can't think of all of them right now.And then the other thing I saw was I was passing by a school where they were giving out water.
And I saw people getting out of their cars to help, like people were there to get water, and all of a sudden, people were just running up to a truck and grabbing jugs of water and bringing it to the back of the line to people that had been waiting for a long time.
And these are people that had been waiting a long time themselves.So just the spirit of community here, I've honestly never seen anything like it. I am proud to be a resident of this area.So again, I'll be in touch.
I'll be putting out some other information as I'm able.Please check the show notes, but mainly go to AshevilleRelief.com.Look through those links, do what you can, and know that the people here are special, and you are special.
Oh, also, I want to thank Joshua Shelton for providing this music.It's called The Flood. It's really very appropriate for this situation.It really feels like what's going on here.Both the sadness, the melancholy, but also a little bit of hope there.
A lot of hope there.We'll be in touch soon.Have a good week.
