NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. — Communities in western North Carolina continue to deal with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and residents across the states are doing what they can do show support.
People are lending a hand through concerts, supply drives and fundraising. That includes a record and book store in based in Wilmington that’s not only trying to help raise funds for the mountains, but shine a light on the region as well.
Community is the backbone of The Fuzzy Needle, a Wilmington book and record store Tim Jarman opened four years ago.
“Fuzzy Needle just like essentially was an opportunity for me to combine my interests and explore my interests in a new way and share with other people,” Jarman said. “And build a community around books and music.”
That community extends far beyond Wilmington. Jarman has built his network of bookworms, music lovers and artists across the state. In fact, it was a record store in the mountains that helped Jarman get The Fuzzy Needle off the ground.
“I reached out at the folks at Harvest Records for help with distribution,” Jarman said. “Titles I should carry, and basically just like any type of question that I had.”
When he got word of the devastation from Hurricane Helene, he knew it was his turn to give his support.
“I was in a state of disbelief, then it kind of turned into shock,” Jarman said. “And then I was kind of overwhelmed with a profound urgency to figure out like how we could help.”
Jarman says he wanted to help in a meaningful, sustainable way. He decided to use what the shop already had on hand to raise funds: records and books.
“Essentially, we started gathering collections of literature or cassettes and records with artists that are contemporary that are working in the western part of the state,” Jarman said, “and wanted to highlight them and use all the proceeds to go to mutual aid services in western North Carolina.”
Those artists include Angel Olson, MJ Lenderman, Thomas Wolfe, Ashleigh Bryant Phillips and Evan Gray.
“It’s just great to know that Tim and so many other people are reaching out and reading a book or listening to some music from western North Carolina,” Gray said in a phone interview.
Gray, who lives in Asheville, says he’s still trying to wrap his head around the damage from Helene.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “Like it literally looks like parts of the mountain, like a bomb went off, or like TNT or something you know exploded. The roads are insane.”
The damage is extensive — that’s why all the way across the state, people are continuing to come together to help.
“Maybe it’s because we’ve suffered so much and dealt with hurricanes in the past, but ultimately there’s just a really vital pipleline between the mountains and the sea,” Jarman said, “And it’s been really inspiring to see people work together.”
All proceeds from the sales of those records and books from western North Carolina will be donated to Beloved Asheville, a nonprofit donating essential shelter and supplies to those affected by Helene.