Tag Archives: asheville blog

During the holiday season, many families in the Western North Carolina region struggle; not only to provide basic essentials, but to create a cheerful day that other families seem to be having due to gifts and festivities. This Christmas season, we here at the Asheville Blog endeavored to provide children in need with a rich holiday experience that they could not receive on their own. The Merry Miracles program, in its second year currently, is designed to collect physical and financial donations that will later be distributed to families (that do not qualify for traditional assistance) in the form of a shop.

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As the Christmas holiday draws near, families are feeling the pressure of providing gifts for their spouses and children. With 20% of Asheville's population living at or below the poverty level, many are struggling to put food on their table or gas in their vehicles, much less using additional finances to fund Christmas gifts. 

Like with our recent Thanksgiving initiative, AshevilleBlog is reaching out to our community and support those who find themselves struggling or needing additional help this time of year. We want to reach families who may not qualify for other traditional means of support through other local gift giving programs. 

Our mission is to equip a minimum of 100 families with gifts for their children and spouses to ease the burden of holiday costs. In a unique twist, instead of handing out generic age appropriate gifts for children, we want to empower the families and make them a part of the gift selection process. Our staff and volunteers will be setting up a shop and inviting families in during set hours to select and gift wrap gifts for their children - completely free. 

We have set up several donation stations across Asheville where you can drop off items to be set up in our store. Items for children of all ages, including teenagers, are appreciated. We also encourage items such as blankets, candles, movies, and other items that will allow older children or spouses to gift to each other. 

If you are interested in making a financial contribution to allow us to buy items in bulk at a discounted price, you can PayPal money to Ashevilleblog@gmail.com, or contact us to arrange for pickup. 

If you can't contribute otherwise but are interested in volunteering, there will be a signup form available. We need individuals to help run the store, sort items, pick up donations, and do other odd jobs. 

The store will be only open for one weekend during limited hours, and more information will be coming shortly. If you or someone interested in applying to be able to shop for free, please fill out this short application (available soon). The more donations we get the more families we can serve. 

You can find our donation stations at these convenient locations:

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Asheville has long been a mecca for free thinkers, entrepreneurs, and artists. Many move to our fair city in hopes of establishing a name for themselves and exposing their art to the eager public. With so many individuals living within Buncombe County alone, the opportunities to expand one's art and live the dream seems feasible, if not achievable.

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North Carolina has one the highest percentages in the United States of children under 18 years of age who are food insecure on a regular basis: 26.1%, or 1 in 4 people. In fact, NC is home to cities that have the highest levels of food insecurities in the nation, Asheville being one of them. To help battle this issue, many organizations like Manna Food Bank and Food Connection exist to prevent food waste, and keep those in need equipped with basic food essentials. However, there are always families and individuals who slip through the cracks, or are in a temporary, but difficult situation who are in need of help especially with the upcoming holiday season. 

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Hi sweet lovely fellow semi conscious almost always hungover kindred spirits in a rocks glass!  I am your voluptuous, rowdy, randy and almost always tipsy friend the Asheville Bar Fly!  A sparkly, glittery half drunk version of course, but not one that will be easily pigeon holed.  My persona is about as ADD as my focus on the task at hand... just know that you are loved, you are important and you will be a more informed drunk each week after our session.   The back wash of the back story begins long ago in a bar room far away. 

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