Bella + Oliver is a soap and candle company that was located in Swannanoa, North Carolina. The owners’ home, where they also operated their business, was flooded up to their roof and they were rescued by a neighbor via kayak. If you’d like to learn more about their story and donate to support their family, you can do so here! You can currently order candles, t-shirts and pre-order soaps to support their family and their community through their website!

The Turqoise Tortuga is a mother-daughter owned business in the Asheville area that is dedicated to creating clean and eco-friendly handpoured candles that you can feel good about burning in your home! They also offer soaps, essential oil roll-ons, and linen/room sprays which you can order through their website!

Willow Hill Soap Company is a family owned soap and candle business with consciously crafted ingredients to keep you healthy and safe! They have locations in Canton and Hendersonville and an online store with $5 Flat Rate Shipping! In addition to soaps and candles, they have fragrance roll-ons, beard oil, lotions, sugar scrubs and more! They also currently have a candle called “Light for WNC” that smells amazing and all proceeds go to support hurricane relief here in WNC!

Summit Coffee Co is one of my favorite coffee shops in the area! I went to their River Arts District location to celebrate my birthday in early September and just a few weeks later it was completely destroyed by Hurricane Helene. You can see images from the damage on their instagram here. There is a location in downtown Asheville that is open for customers and they also have an online store where you can order coffee beans and can even specify your grind size!

Black Bear Coffee Co is another one of my favorite coffee shops around! They have two locations, one in downtown Hendersonville and another in Fletcher! Their online store features Counter Culture coffee and also merchandise like the hand-thrown coffee mug in the photo as well as a few t-shirts and sweatshirts!

Cooperative Coffee Roasters is located in West Asheville and their beans are used in another one of my favorite coffee shops, Cup and Saucer in Brevard! You can order sampler packs from the Cooperative website, as well as monthly subscriptions for coffee bean delivery, and also some pretty sweet diner mugs and stickers!

Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn is an Asheville delicacy! Their unique flavors are yummy and well-loved by locals and tourists alike! They currently have a specialty Asheville Mix Artist Bag that supports Asheville entrepreneurs post-Hurricane Helene.

Spicewalla is a local business that offers a vast and diverse array of fresh and chef-driven spice blends and rubs! You can order collections on their website that vary from 3-packs to 18-packs! As of 11/14, they are also donating a portion of all sales to disaster relief!

12 Bones Smokehouse makes some of the best meat in town and their River Arts District location is closed indefinitely after suffering extreme damage and flooding. Their Arden location is open and their online store is also open! They have amazing sauces that you can buy along with a Smokehouse cookbook, apparel and gift certificates!

The French Broad Chocolate Lounge is located in Downtown Asheville and also suffered from flooding due to Hurricane Helene. Thankfully their distribution center was okay! They have re-opened for business and you can also order some of their amazing chocolates, bonbons, hot chocolate, peppermint bark, and more through their online shop! They are also on Oprah’s Favorite Things list for 2024! Woohoo!

The Asheville Bee Charmer Honey store location may still be closed, but their online store is open for business! In addition to several different types of honey, they also sell home goods, body care, candles, and other merch! Save the Bees and shop local by supporting this small business!

McFarlan’s Bakery is a small town treasure and has been around since 1930! I don’t believe that they suffered structural damage from Hurricane Helene, however they also rely a lot on tourism to keep things going! If you are local to the Hendersonville/Asheville area, you should definitely support their bakery and stop by and enjoy some of their famous glazed donuts or order a cake for your next special occasion! Their Apple Fritters are my girls’ favorite breakfast treat!

Y’all. Baked Pie Company is SO good!!! With the holidays coming up, I would HIGHLY recommend ordering your pies from Baked!! It looks like they even have some shipping options on their website! The Apple Crumb is my personal favorite but everything they make is amazing!

O.P. Taylor’s is “The coolest toy store on the planet” and has great gift options for kids young and old! The original store location is in Brevard and their are two others in Hendersonville and Greenville as well. I don’t believe that the stores themselves suffered from extreme damage, however I am sure they heavily rely on tourism! Instead of ordering something on Amazon, consider shopping at O.P. Taylor’s for the little ones in your life!

The Hands On! Children’s Museum has been an incredible resource for families during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene but it has always a great place for families with young children to visit year-round! If you know a local family with young children (maybe ages 7-ish and under?) I would HIGHLY recommend getting them a Hands On! Membership! I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old and we have started asking for a membership for Christmas and it is the gift that keeps giving ALL year long! BONUS – McFarlan’s Bakery and Black Bear Coffee Co. are both right by this place! It’s the perfect trifecta.

Moonlight Makers is a super cute store located in downtown Asheville that has a ton of amazing Asheville-related merch as well as other cute and fun home goods, apparel and more! They are doing a lot to support disaster relief post-hurricane Helene and you can get free shipping on orders $35+!

There There in Asheville is a store with beautiful home goods, clothing and accessories, gifts and more! They also have a line of items called “With Love From Asheville” that are designed by local artists and support disaster relief from Hurricane Helene!

I heard about Michael’s Sportswear and Souvenirs through a friend. They were located in Chimney Rock and their entire store is gone. Washed away. It does not exist. Check out their Facebook page to learn more about how their business was impacted. Please consider shopping on their new online store and loving on their GoFundMe! They have a lot of great Lake Lure and Chimney Rock merchandise including t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, water bottles and more!

828 Strong is continuing to support the ongoing relief efforts needed in WNC. The work is not done. WNC is going to need your support for months, and honestly, years to come. Please consider donating to support continued relief efforts this holiday season!

Old Fort Strong is a relief fund to support the town of Old Fort, just outside of Asheville, which got hit hard by Hurricane Helene. They are hoping to raise 2 million dollars to support the 50+ homes lost in McDowell County alone. They are also hosting an Endurance Festival Race to raise these funds! Consider donating to help this community rebuild.

Beloved Asheville is always supporting the Asheville community but they have also been a key component of boots on the ground relief efforts in the Asheville area throughout the past several weeks of hurricane recovery! Through their website you can donate financially or take a look at their most needed items and see if you can support their efforts by donating physical items!