BALTIMORE — While most of us here in Maryland caught glimpses of the damage left behind by Hurricane Helene on our TV screens or social media feeds, a bartender at Pickett Brewing Company in Pigtown had a much more intimate look.
"His son, Andrew, works at one of the breweries in North Carolina, and his daughter is in school at Appalachian State down there," Kate Conway, co-owner of Pickett Brewing Company, told WMAR-2 News.
His daughter Ellen evacuated; Andrew was stuck for a bit without electric and not much food. Both made it back home to Baltimore safely. As they return to Asheville and Boone, they won't be empty-handed.
Pickett and nearby Checkerspot Brewing are collecting donations to bring down to North Carolina. They're looking for things like toiletries, canned goods, diapers and baby formula, just to name a few. They've already received enough to bring down the first of hopefully many loads.
"Ellen has a lot of friends who are students and they've been displaced and we knew that if we donated in this way and they were taking it down, it would go directly into people's hands," Conway told WMAR-2 News. "Because I'm sure the logistics of all the donations coming in is very difficult down there. This way, we knew Ellen was taking it down and she was giving it directly to people in need."
Ellen already made a trip. Her brother is heading down soon. They say they'll keep going as long as they can.
"It was a car full. In fact, she has a lizard and she couldn't take the lizard back because her car was full of supplies. She left her pet behind with her mom so that she could fill every square inch of her car with stuff to take back."
Like his father, Andrew also works at a brewery, that suffered heavy damage from Helene. That struck a chord with Conway.
"A lot of them are shut down indefinitely and as a small business owner, my business partner Jason and I, that's devastating to think that all this time and effort goes into building your business and to have it literally wiped away is just devastating and our hearts go out to them," Conway said.
You can drop off donations at Pickett Brewing Company during their normal business hours. Checkerspot Brewing is accepting donations up until this Sunday, October 13 - that's when they're heading to Asheville to bring items to Burial Beer Co., which will disperse them where needed.
