Laurelyn Dossett, an award-winning singer-songwriter from Campbelltown, will perform a free concert to raise funds for North Carolina at Pine Creek Spirits in Elizabethtown on Friday, Nov. 1, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Dossett is performing three shows throughout the East Coast and decided, along with some of her friends in Central Pennsylvania, that they should put together a small show for former classmates to get together.
Then Hurricane Helene hit her home state of North Carolina — knocking out power and destroying homes. Some estimates say it brought about $53 billion in damages and recovery needs.
Dossett said she was outside the flood zone but was still rocked by the widespread damage throughout the state.
“It took me like six days to find out that all my people were okay,” she said. “A lot of the musicians that I’ve worked with live in western North Carolina.”
One of her Central PA friends suggested they turn the small get-together into a fundraiser.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a nice group of people who want to spend a nice evening together,” Dossett said. “I’ll play some music and we’ll raise some money. I will get it to the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.”
She said the foundation works in all of the counties that were hit, making it a good “umbrella organization” to get the money to the people and communities who need it most, including the smaller towns that don’t get as much press.
“There are lots of little tiny communities all over those mountains that were practically destroyed. They need a lot of help and they’re harder to get to,” she said. “When natural disasters happen in areas that people are not as familiar with like rural areas, you see it on the news for a few days and then people forget, and those areas are going to need help for years.”
Along with any donations gathered directly from concertgoers, Pine Creek Spirits will also donate a portion of its Nov. 1 income to CFWNC.
She said she doesn’t have any expectations about how much money they will raise, but she’s optimistic based on feedback she’s gotten from the community.
“There seems to be a lot of excitement about it from different groups of friends, so I think we’ll have a nice turnout,” Dossett said. “I just want people to give what they can, and it’ll help them remember over the long haul that this is going to be a need that is ongoing.”
Even though it’s just four days before the election, she said this will not be a political space.
She said she just wants it to be a night where people can get together, listen to music and help those who need it.
“This is not about politics, this is not about the election, this is just about neighbors and friends coming together to help the Helene flood relief effort and be together,” Dossett said.
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