Tag Archives: support local

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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This year AshevilleBlog is helping families in our area who don't qualify for traditional gift giving charitable assistance. We are calling this our Merry Miracles, and you can read more about the program here: http://ashevilleblog.com/merry-miracles-2015/

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Asheville Grown in partnership with UnChain AVL and the Asheville Music Hall are planning a rally in support of locally owned businesses and the unique culture of our downtown. 

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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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Asheville is home to thousands of locally owned, independent businesses that often run on a shoestring budget. Oftentimes, the business owner is also the bookkeeper, employee, janitor, and customer service rep, which does not leave a lot of time or brainpower for keeping up with a loyalty program. This is where Lolo steps in.

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