 The River Arts District in Asheville, NC - photo by Jody Stevenson Click here to support Farm and Plenty Disaster Relief Dear friends,
The Farm has a strong connection to Asheville, North Carolina. It’s long been a hippie enclave, surrounded by the beauty of the mountains, with a strong emphasis on the arts and music.
It’s become the home for many of our founding generation's kids who settled there in the 90s and 2000s, a community culture they could relate to and a relatively short 6-hour drive away from the motherland in Tennessee, making it possible for them to stay connected with family. My son Jody has been living in Asheville for about 15 years.
Asheville has also become a place where many of the older, founding generation former Farm members have chosen to live, sometimes to be closer to their kids, or they’ve just been drawn to the overall vibe of the city.
There’s probably 100 to 200 of our Farm family living in Asheville and the surrounding mountains. It seems that they are all OK, with so many stories of falling trees miraculously missing their homes and vehicles.
 Dan Bright (left, sunglasses) and his son (cap and long blonde hair) deliver water to Asheville residents. photo by Simon Eaton Dan Bright is one of our young guys here in Summertown who works in a local hospital as an ER nurse. He and his teenage son have driven over to Asheville with a truck and a 275-gallon water tank. Some of our Farm people in Asheville have homes outside of town with wells, and they have been able to provide water to refill the tank many times.
 My son and his wife Adrienne giving out supplies to support immigrant families in and around Asheville. These communities are often overlooked by emergency services.  photo by Jody Stevenson Jody has mobilized his van joining up with Dan's crew. He and Simon Eaton spent a day making contact with one of our older former members who had a place up in the mountains to bring him water and supplies. A tree fell through his roof and it is going to take some heavy equipment to remove it.
 Our nonprofit Plenty International is collecting donations to keep the volunteers going with gas and supplies. Look for updates as they come in the private group on Facebook, Friends of Plenty International. If you want to contribute to their efforts, use the donate page on the Plenty website at:
In spite of the destruction, pain, and suffering, catastrophic events like these can also bring out the best in people.
Neighbors are talking to each other. Restaurants are giving away food. The volunteer spirit is strong. Work crews are going around the clock to restore power and clear roads.
Keep reading to see what some of our folks there on the ground have to say.
Peace,
Douglas  Simon Eaton - photo by Jody Stevenson From Simon: "We are good, of course super sad for all the devastating loss our little city and the surrounding areas. We continue to endure and are exhausted because we have been going pretty much nonstop trying to help as many folks as we can to get through this.
We helped get cooking and flushing water to Rosetta's Kitchen where they have been serving hot food for donations and also serving as a place for people to drop donation goods to be distributed and a place for people to get wifi and fill out FEMA applications. We also moved Rosetta's household into our home so they could get back and forth to run the restaurant and not live in a flooded-out house. So we have 10+ people and 4 dogs living in our little house with no running water or power the last few days, but it's a great crew, really proud of how everyone has been showing up.
We have been delivering gray water for flushing toilets to the housing projects around Asheville. We have been raising funds for more tanks and buckets. Currently we are tracking down more 275 gallon water containers to get stationed in the apartment complexes and trailer parks, so we can unload quickly and then people can fill up their own buckets instead of us filling them. As we get more water tanks, we will need more trucks with trailers and volunteers to help us deliver. Over and out."
From Dan: “We have service back in Candler, NC, our base area! Super huge props to Elijah and Lacey Cramer for letting us base out of their house. We have run looooooots of water out of their well for this project.
We're told that the situation is degrading from an infrastructure standpoint. The limited water system in Asheville that was working stopped this morning. The county is reporting that they have limited storage that will be gone by or before Friday. Sewer problems are starting to rise in the housing projects because of the concentrated densities."
 Third-generation Farm teens fill buckets with non-potable water for washing and flushing toilets. photo by Dan Bright  photo by Dan Bright  Touch the edges of mystery! Dances of Universal Peace, Nov 1-3, 2024
Our goal is to seed an annual gathering with the vision to connect, collaborate, empower, and build our network of peace for the benefit of all beings. Click here to learn more and to register.
 Thank you for your time and attention!
 My books:
Out to Change the World and The Farm Then and Now
Out to Change the World! $12 plus shipping
The Farm Then and Now $19.95 plus shipping
Watch my TEDx Talk: Out to Change the World - Living the Hippie Dream
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Douglas Stevenson
Douglas@villagemedia.com www.douglasstevenson.com Village Media www.villagemedia.com |
