The Book Industry Charitable Foundation is raising money as it gears up to help retailers affected by Hurricane Helene, which has inflicted major death and destruction across the Southeastern U.S., and other disasters.

As a starting point, Macmillan Publishers will match all gifts, regardless of size, up to a total of $10,000 for contributions to Binc.  As of Tuesday morning, Binc had already received 15 calls for help from book and comic people, with many others presumably still unable to communicate due to cell tower damages and other disruptions.

Binc Executive Director Pam French described the situation.  "We are already hearing from book and comic people who are traumatized, unable to find friends and family, and without water and electricity," she said.  "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."

The widespread damage from Helene will likely end up being the source of the most significant demand for Binc help since the forced closings and supply chain disruptions of the Covid pandemic (see, for example, "Binc’s ‘Survive to Thrive’ Initiative").

Retailers can ask for help here.
And donations can be made here.