Ashville gay bar

Brandon Davis and his husband, Davie, said they were "over the moon" when they finally opened their queer bar and event space, DayTrip, in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. Plans to host LGBTQ fundraisers, burlesque shows, dog adoptions and other community events were in the works when it was all brought to a halt, Davis said.

Just over a month after the space opened to the public, it was decimated by Hurricane Helene. Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. Asheville experienced significant floodingleading to widespread damage. Many residents are still struggling to find housingand the destruction of major roads in the already difficult terrain of southern Appalachia has made the distribution of aid challenging.

Davis and Brandon have been lifelong bartenders.

Queer bar devastated by Hurricane Helene raises more than $191,000 to rebuild

They developed the idea of DayTrip as a space for the queer community, featuring a bar and a coffee shop. At first, Davis said, he didn't think their business would be affected by Hurricane Helene. Although it felt "over precautious," Davis said, they still sandbagged the doors, along with other hurricane preparations.

The building ended up having 23 feet of water come up onto it, ashville DayTrip flooded up to gay second floor, according to Davis. When he returned to the space after the storm had passed, he said, it looked like "a scene from an end-of-the-world movie. After the water began to recede, however, David said he realized they were extremely lucky.

Since the GoFundMe went live, Davis said, they have been overwhelmed with support — even from international supporters. Besides setting aside money to rebuild DayTrip, Davis said they have used funds to compensate employees, as well as donate to local volunteering efforts. Davis has leveraged the DayTrip platform to not only support his family, business and employees, but to help other small businesses and community members.

To have that taken away from you is devastating. DayTrip organized collection of cold-weather gear for the community, as officials in Buncombe County, where Asheville is, have said donations will be needed for Hurricane Helene survivors as temperatures drop this fall.

Davis said they intend to use the money raised through the GoFundMe to reopen DayTrip, and they plan to begin rebuilding in the spring. As for the extensive list of community events that Davis had planned, he said he believes they will still happen. IE 11 is not supported.

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