12/02/2025
This Giving Tuesday, can you support ROAR's mission to nurture a more just and inclusive rural community in the mountains of WNC?
This past year has been a whirlwind for us. In the aftermath of Helene, we kicked into high gear: we opened up a mutual aid hub in Marshall, delivered essential supplies and medical care across five counties, distributed over 100 truck loads of firewood and helped to establish several free firewood banks in Madison and Buncombe County. Through the generous support of people across the country, we were able to distribute over $500,000 in direct aid to Helene survivors as well as tens of thousands of dollars in direct support to other local grassroots groups doing vital recovery work.
We continue to do this work in solidarity with communities facing the brunt of the bigoted and hateful policies being rolled out by our government. This summer we were proud to partner with Laurel Country Pride to put on the first ever pride event in Madison County. Last month, when the threat of ICE raids forced thousands of families to stay home in fear, we partnered with local immigrant advocacy groups to help distribute groceries and joined others to form a rural rapid response network. During Helene, when we got word that public housing residents in Asheville were not getting help from the city after the water system failed, we filled up tanks from our springs and wells and delivered them to these neighborhoods. We also directed resources to local food justice groups rooted in the Black community to help with their recovery in the face of government abandonment. And we launched our successful “Honky-tonk Not Hate” concert series, which has raised over $10,000 for rural organizing efforts, including a Cherokee-led food sovereignty initiative, a LGTBQ support group in Jackson County, and two WNC-based migrant justice groups.
We are excited to continue this work into 2026, but we can't do it without your support. One of our biggest dreams for the coming year is to find a permanent home for our mutual aid hub. Helene showed us how vital it is to have a physical home for our work. With your help, we plan to create a grassroots community center to act as a gathering space, event venue, and resource hub to grow our mission of building a stronger and more inclusive rural WNC.
Here are three ways you can support our work in the coming year:
- Participate in our Winter Auction + Raffle Fundraiser: https://wncroar.betterworld.org
- Make a tax deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor: https://donorbox.org/rural-organizing-and-resilience
- Become a monthly sustainer on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/roarwnc
When we say "Y'all Means All" this is what we mean:
Those in power try to divide us along lines of race, gender, class and identity. We see that what we have in common is far more powerful than their hate and division. The struggle of generations-deep Madison County families being priced out of the county by Air BnBs and real estate speculation is directly tied to the gentrification that is ripping apart the fabric of Asheville's Black neighborhoods. The struggle of immigrant communities taking refuge here from the violence and dispossession in their home countries shares a connection with the Cherokee people's fight for sovereignty that has continued unbroken since the Trail of Tears. The struggle of rural q***r youth to be able to live without fear in the communities they love is directly intertwined with the poverty and despair that fuels the addiction crisis in rural Appalachia. It will take all of us working together to build the home in the mountains we want to see. We are deeply humbled and appreciative to be doing this work alongside you.
Thank you for your support, Rural Organizing & Resilience
