BROOKINGS Brookings business owners are coming together to support those impacted by the Dec. 30 fire that destroyed Brosts Fashions and damaged neighboring buildings.
Noelle Morford owner of FOUND by Funky Junk has spearheaded an effort to spotlight ongoing fire relief fundraising by distributing donation jars throughout town.
I wanted to help my friends, Morford said. Downtown business owners lean on each other. My business had previously occupied two spaces on that block one flooded and both dealt with smoke issues and I was feeling both thankful and guilty that my business was safe.
The Ivy Center at Brookings Behavioral Health and Wellness has been accepting donations to support businesses and residential tenants impacted by the fire. Working with the Downtown Brookings organization, Morford coordinated making and distributing the jars along with posters and table tents to publicize the need for donations.
Theres over 40 businesses participating, people are continuing to reach out to us and businesses are welcome to continue reaching out to us if they want to participate, Morford said. Theres over 17 people affected and over 18 businesses affected. We have that stuff included on each jar, so people know where their money is going.
She said from the beginning, many people wanted to help.
At first they had a donor box that was aimed at just to help residents get some immediate cash to get a hotel and to get some clothes, Morford said. Theres so little people can do sometimes. Its like with the California fires right now people are helpless. Its just a waiting game.
Her own involvement started with a Facebook post about Bobbie Jo Johnson one of the tenants displaced by the fire.
She was the person who actually reported the whole fire I got in touch with her because she knew my aunt. Shes from my hometown of Lake Benton, Morford said. I found out Bobbie was an LPN. A lot of people are really shy to ask about what they need So I said, Well, youre an LPN, so you must need some scrubs? Shes like, Well, yeah, that would be helpful. So I posted if anyone has the right size scrubs, please donate. And I had like six bags donated right away.
The next step was finding ways to help affected businesses.
Obviously I have a business downtown, so I have a lot of really dear friends here, Morford said. Many were widely affected in so many different ways. Some businesses had smoke damage or carbon monoxide, while obviously theres other businesses that lost everything.
She said the donation jars make it easy for people to help.
At many businesses, people arent going to pay with cash necessarily. So I thought where can we send some money with like a QR code, Morford said. I reached out to Allegra, and they suggested doing table tents as well. They offered to do like 100 prints of each item and then the design for the printing. So their help was huge, and their work was really beautiful. They donated their services.
Monetary donations either to the jars or through the QR code will go to the Ivy Centers Downtown Brookings Fire Relief fund.
They decided they would just send all of the money to the same place for both residents and businesses affected, Morford said. We havent set any kind of a deadline. I just ask (businesses) to contact me when their jar is full, and then Ill get you another jar. Some businesses are matching donations. That was up to the individual businesses, and I told them to please advertise that as well.
Donations can also be made online at https://donorbox.org/downtown-brookings-fire-relief.
The small businesses in our town you can call them when you need a donation for an event or for sponsoring a soccer team or something, Morford said. Well, they need you, too. And its not just about donations. Make sure youre shopping local, make sure youre spreading word of mouth about businesses you love and when businesses re-open make sure youre finding their new locations.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
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