By now you’ve almost certainly heard of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene over the weekend. The storm first made landfall in Florida on Thursday and quickly swept through several states in the Southeast, bringing unprecedented rainfall to the region and leaving destruction in its wake. Entire communities are under feet of water, many destroyed altogether. The death toll to date exceeds 180 lives lost, and many areas are still without power, potable water, internet, or cell service.
Our thoughts are with everyone in Virginia, North Carolina South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee who’s been impacted by this natural disaster. Relief efforts are ongoing but the road to recovery will be long, so we’re dedicating this week’s bonus send of The Deep Dive to sharing resources. If you’re interested in donating to relief efforts or are looking for assistance yourself, here are a few of the options I’ve come across in the last few days. The first is a charitable foundation providing assistance to bookstores and their employees both now and year-round, and the rest are general relief resources. All mission and objective descriptions are from the group or organization’s website.
Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to assisting booksellers in need. The Binc Foundation grew out of a wish of bookstore employees to establish a fund to help their colleagues experiencing unexpected financial crises.
Right now, donations make double the impact: Macmillan Publishers is currently matching up to $10,000 in donations to help meet the needs of the more than 200 bookstores and comic shops and thousands of store employees potentially impacted by Hurricane Helene.
All Hands and Hearts provides community-inspired, volunteer-powered disaster relief. They have launched a 12-month, $2 million response to Hurricane Helene.
Baby2Baby has already sent over one million emergency supplies including diapers, formula and blankets to families impacted by deadly and catastrophic flooding in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, but there is still a ton of unmet need. Donations go towards fulfilling urgent requests from Baby2Baby’s partners on the ground.
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a grassroots disaster relief network based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action. Their Instagram page is a great resource for lots of on-the-ground efforts across impacted areas.
Operation Airdrop’s Operation Helene is dedicated to providing immediate disaster relief in response to Hurricane Helene. Their primary mission is to deliver essential supplies, hot meals, and support to communities significantly impacted by the storm.