The Binc (Book Industry Charitable) Foundation has announced they are raising funds to help bookstore and comic shop employees affected by Hurricane Helene in Florida, North Carolina, and several other nearby states. Macmillan Publishers, the home of First Second Books, 23rd Street Books, and more, will match donations up to a total of $10,000.
Pam French, the executive director of Binc, stated, “We are already hearing from book and comic people who are traumatized, unable to find friends and family, and without water and electricity, and we know there will be more stores in need of disaster relief as the waters recede, the cleanup begins, and cell phone signals return. We are grateful for our friends at Macmillan for their willingness to partner with us in support of bookstores and comic shops.”
You can donate via the form provided here. At the time of writing, Hurricane Helene, which struck the southeastern United States on September 26, has claimed the lives of at least 190 people, half of whom were in North Carolina, with hundreds more missing. You can also donate to help survivors through various charities and state fundraisers, all of which you can check here, and for more information and resources, you can head to the the federal government’s website, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety‘s websites.
If you are a comic book store or bookstore retailer/employee who has been affected by the disaster, you can apply for Binc’s aid here. The foundation said in the press release that so far, they have already received 15 calls for help. The fundraiser is likely to be Binc’s biggest aid effort since 2020, when they raised over $1 million to help stores and employees affected by the mass closures at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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