In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, there has been numerous initiatives put forth by local Western North Carolina musicians to raise funds and provide aid to those in need in our backyard. 

Ten years ago, the Southwestern Community College Foundation launched a bold new effort to create a fundraising event that everyone in Western North Carolina could enjoy and get behind. That first year was a challenge. 

A visually stunning amalgamation of images — both historic and aspirational — now adorns Waynesville’s Pigeon Community Multicultural Development center, breathing new life into an old neighborhood and commemorating the important role of the structure in regional Black history. 

The Western Carolina University School of Nursing in Cullowhee is the recipient of a $2 million contribution from the Bedford Falls Foundation-DAF (“Bedford Falls”) that will provide scholarship support to undergraduate nursing students and enable the hiring of additional faculty to guide them in their clinical experiences. 

On an unusually warm fall afternoon in the mountains, art class is taking place in the outdoor pavilion at Full Spectrum Farms in Cullowhee. Participants are using recycled magazines and newspapers, paint and markers to create mixed-media collages. 

By Andrew Dundas • Contributing writer | Paper, a folder and pencils — both colored and No. 2. These are just some of the supplies required in Kara Faust’s art classes at Canton Middle School each semester. Yet, her school is not able to provide funding for these resources.

The first time Nancy East visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it was the 1990s and she was in veterinary school. But those squeezed-in backpacking excursions provided the catalyst for her later decision to move to Western North Carolina, and 25 years later, East finished hiking all 850 miles of trail running through the park’s 816 square miles of land. 

The Haywood Healthcare Foundation relies on its annual Casino Night fundraising event to be able to support the many unmet healthcare needs in the community, but new legislation passed by the North Carolina General Assembly this year could put a stop to it. 

More than 12,000 donors contributed over a five-year period to raise over $60 million for scholarships at Western Carolina University.

The table is set — all you have to do is come sit down and be served.