Updated 10/25/2024
When Hurricane Helene hit, USFWC members jumped into action organizing mutual aid. You can help their efforts by pitching in through one of the mutual aid, relief funds and campaigns below. These have been vetted by USFWC members in the impacted regions.
Ways of Helping USFWC Members Directly
- USFWC member PODER Emma is coordinating getting food, drinking water and supplies out to their Asheville neighbors through their Emma neighborhood distribution center. They are also restoring power and water access to trailer parks with the help of solar panels set up by Footprint Project. Donate to PODER Emma / Colaborativa La Milpa here.
- USFWC member Firestorm Books is acting as an in-person resource and information hub, with a daily meeting that serves as a space for neighbors to get verified updates and coordinate mutual aid efforts. Support them by ordering books from their online store but expect considerable shipping delays.
- Tierra Fértil Coop has been distributing personal hygiene, clothing and produce to people impacted by the Hurricane. They need volunteers to help clean and collect debris strewn across their farm.
- USFWC Member Carolina Common Enterprise is raising funds specifically for the long term recovery of Western NC cooperatives. Donate to their fund here.
- Cenzontle Language Justice Cooperative is back to regular operations after putting in hundreds of volunteer hours supporting the recovery with language justice services. Language justice is always essential, especially during trying times. Help them recover lost income by hiring them for your interpretation, translation and other language justice needs.
Other efforts to contribute to
- MutualAidDisasterRelief (Instagram) – Donate through their fundraiser page or Venmo @MutualAidDisasterRelief
- Local Asheville organizers – Donate through Venmo @AppMedSolid or Cash App $Streets1de with “Flood Support” in the memo
- Many of our members have called on the public to contribute to the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky’s Appalachian Helene Response Fund.
It’s heartbreaking and horrifying to see the loss of life and livelihood caused by yet another climate damage-fueled storm. It can be demoralizing knowing those in power are not doing more to stop these disasters from happening. Leaders should be making fossil fuel billionaires pay what they owe us for the damage they’ve caused.
We find hope and resolve in the worker co-ops and cooperators that are leading the way in responding to the climate crisis and building a brighter future—not just through disaster recovery but by advancing regenerative ways of doing business that repair and revive our environment.
Across race and place, most of us take care of our communities. For too long, fossil fuel CEOs and the politicians they buy have spread lies about the possibility for change while they hike up our rates and pollute our surroundings. They target the communities they think can’t fight back. Hurricane Helene is just the latest climate crisis fueled by their greed.
Everyday people are coming together in worker co-ops to build a brighter future by putting power back in the hands of the people who want clean water, safe air, and a good life for our communities.
By joining together across race and place, we can ensure every community can chart our own clean energy future.
Thank you for doing your part and pitching in to the campaigns and fundraisers linked above.
Toward a brighter future based in cooperation, not extraction,
Tehmina and USFWC team
