10/05/2026
Thank you to the over 100 generous and enthusiastic community members who came out to THRIVE Appalachia's Fashion & Passion Show on September 18th. This, our annual fundraiser, raised $10,105 for THRIVE, and our teens earned $7,865 for their farm-to-fashion clothing line of jackets, vests, hats, and scarves--all made from local sheep and alpaca wool! To date, teens have earned nearly $25,000 with their fashion collections! Deep gratitude for all who attended and participated, and to our generous local businesses and artists who contributed to our silent auction--listed below! Please think of them when you are doing your holiday shopping! Also deep thanks to Jeff Goodman, our inimitable live auctioneer, our gracious and gorgeous models, Joan Whiteside from NuWray Hotel who so brilliantly guided our teen cooks, the amazing photographer Sean Busher whose incredible photos captured the event and our wonderful parent volunteers for all your help! We are forever grateful to all of you and to Mountain Air Community Fund, The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, The Yancey Fund, Dogwood Health Trust, AMY Wellness Foundation, Resourceful Communities, and VAYA, who make our teen renaissance possible!
The local businesses and artists who made our silent auction possible:
Hearth Glass & Gallery, The NuWray Hotel, Stellar Blue Jewelry, Burnsville Candle Company, Sedberry Pottery, Flattery Fine Art, Monkey Business Toy Shop, Something Special Gift Shop, Selena Glass, Sassy Gal, OBV Metalworks, Tina Veitch, Rob Levin Glass, Sarah House Pottery, Plott Hound Books, Fill-More Burnsville, Wild Violet, Hearthstone Bakery, Reverence Botanicals, YummiYarns, McWhirter Pottery, Myrna Stevens, Sandy Ylinen, Golden Sun Aerial Arts, Colorful Gypsy, and our friends at the Yancey Farmers Market: Moral Bees, Browns Creek Herbs, Native Roots Jewelry, Mooney's Mushrooms, and Hues With Henry Oil Painting Prints.
