Brevard Rd. Fire Relief
By
Parker Sloan, Grey Nelson and Adam Bowers lost their home and possessions on Friday evening in a tragic house fire on Brevard Road in West Asheville. See the WLOS video report here.
They lost their clothes, beds, shoes, furniture, kitchen supplies, bicycles, photographs… Have a look around you right now, and imagine it all burned to ruin. It’s time for our community to come together to help these three get back on their feet.
You can make a monetary donation here. The Bar of Soap, 333 Merrimon Ave., is accepting non-monetary donations of food, clothing and other items.
We’re also hosting a benefit for the trio this Friday, March 2nd, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ at 20 Oak Street in downtown Asheville from 5-7pm. Open your hearts, wallets and checkbooks as Parker, Grey and Adam need all of the support and financial help they can get.
The boys sizes are:
Adam Bowers: M shirt, 11.5 shoe, 32-34×32 pant
Parker Sloan: L shirt, 11 shoe, 36×32 pant
Grey Nelson: M shirt, 10-10.5 shoe, 32×30-32 pant
Parker is a student, musician, organizer, and land planner. Grey, also a musician, works with Sundance Power Systems. Adam makes his living in music and entertainment, working with Asheville’s Lyric Opera, and he lost seven instruments and the use of his car in the fire. All three men are staying with friends and taking it one day at a time.
Front porch of the Brevard home

The Paypal donation link isn’t working, brings me to a “Transaction Completed” page instead of a start page, so I don’t know who to send a donation to. Thanks!
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Twitter: gordondsmith
says:
Link fixed. Thanks, Catherine.
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Gordon,
I still am not able to donate via Paypal. Your donate button on the lower right hand column does work. Will that accomplish the same thing? Also, I plan on attending the fundraiser on Friday, would it be better if I donated then? Thanks, Terry
BTW: The error message I get is the following:
Sorry — your last action could not be completed
If you were making a purchase or sending money, we recommend that you check both your PayPal account and your email for a transaction confirmation after 30 minutes.
If you came to this page from another website, please return to that site (don’t use your browser’s Back button) and restart your activity.
If you came from PayPal’s website, click the PayPal logo in the upper-left corner to return to our home page and restart your activity. You might have to log in again.
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Great photo!
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If we want to donate a bicycle or musical instrument, how do we do that?
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Donation link still not working for me.
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Twitter: gordondsmith
says:
” The Bar of Soap, 333 Merrimon Ave., is accepting non-monetary donations of food, clothing and other items.”
Permalink for donations here
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Twitter: gordondsmith
says:
Link fixed again. Sorry, y’all. Paypal can get squirrelly, so I’m linking to the page of the woman who started the Paypal account. It’ll get you there. Thanks, all.
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Twitter: gordondsmith
says:
Thanks to The Hop! They’re going to donate 10% of all sales on Friday to the Fire Relief Fund, so go buy some ice cream!
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How do we find out what kind of instruments they would like, so we give them something they need? Musicians are picky that way, you know.
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Dear all,
This is Ben Nelson, Grey’s brother. First, many thanks to Gordon and everyone who has posted here for your support — our family has been overwhelmed with the strength and generosity of the West Asheville and WNC communities over the last few days. Grey and I are lucky to live here.
Second, I want to spread the word about another event in support of the relief fund. This Sunday (3/4) from 4 PM – close, the Altamont Brewing Co. on Haywood Rd. in West Asheville is hosting a fundraiser. We’ll have live music from local bands including the Demijohn Varmints and members of Dehlia Low, performances by local artists including the Green Grass Cloggers, hopefully some food from local restaurants, and some old-time music and a square dance open to all. Updated information about the event will be available at http://www.altamontbrewingcompany.com/event/brevard-rd-fire-fundraiser-4pm-until/
Last, a quick response to questions about donations of musical instruments and bicycles. Here’s what I know was lost: mandolin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric piano, 2 trumpets, at least 2 bicycles. One acoustic guitar (an inherited 1959 Gibson) had very heavy damage to a brand-new finish job and might not be repairable. A classical guitar and banjo were in the house but appear to have survived; an upright bass and mountain bike were carried outside the house during escape from the fire.
Please be mindful that all three guys are staying temporarily with friends and family and don’t have a lot of space to accumulate new possessions right now. You might consider waiting until later in the recovery process before donating larger items. If you have any such items to offer, please contact me at malagasybenja(at)yahoo(dot)com and I’ll pass on information to Grey, Parker, and Adam.
Thank you all, again, for your support.
Best,
Ben Nelson
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Good to know…thanks for the info, and will be contacting you about items and when they can be delivered. Can they still use food? Don’t want to contribute to excess.
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