A Note From Our Founder

Dear Western North Carolina,

Everyone has a piece they want to say in tragic times...

Some are realllllly good at it.

Some aren't.

I don't consider myself a writer but sometimes I open up and speak by way of words, sometimes by way of design and creative outlets, but always by way of heart.

Sometimes things hit mine so aggressively it hurts. Bad.

A lot of times, I just want to share a fishing tip or a note of design knowledge.

This time around, I’m shaken to the core and know nothing to say.

It’s RARE that I am speechless, by the way…

A place, here in my very own home state of North Carolina was absolutely crushed.

Devastated. Destroyed. Gone. All the terrible words.

It will never truly be the same.

I was born and raised in Greensboro with roots planted all around the Charlotte area, and a life here in the Carolinas for what is now 44 years. A brief stint in Charleston, SC too. But still CAROLINA.

Western North Carolina has always held a place for myself and my family to get away.

Or just a solo mission to fly fish, see a friend, or hit up a record store that always had long out-of-print punk tapes or Wu-Tang records.

To do touristy stuff like everyone else.

To take a picture of the hills and leaves in the Fall.

To find the hidden gems in the nooks and crannies along every inch of road, backroad, and ridge.

Apple butter in abundance, y’all.

To sleep in a brewery parking lot when I was struggling majorly with alcohol and found solace and peace in the mountains just for a night.

Coming up on 8 years sober this November thanks in-part to those mountain trips.

To backpack and fish along the rivers for a day while trying to “find myself” again. And again.

My oldest daughter even found love there.

I’m getting old.

300 miles from the nearest coastline, tucked away in and out of valleys across this wonderful land I love, it was ravaged by a hurricane. A HURRICANE. In the mountains. Of North Carolina.

Let that sink in.

It will never ever make sense but one common theme is the rise that people have in their hearts and minds for this part of our state.

I’ve been sending a bit of money, delivering cases of water, etc.

Doing what I can but for a week now, I have woken up with a sense of “do more” but “what can I do?"

I design things every day for a living so…

I designed a sticker.

A simple sticker. It’s called “WNC Rise”.

It’s setup and available at a pay-what-you-want donation at www.nativecreature.us/wnc

The more you donate, the more stickers you’ll receive.

100% of the proceeds will go to the relief efforts in Western North Carolina.

Updates will be made in the journal at antsanders.com as well as www.nativecreature.us/wnc as funds start to go where they need to.

Do what you can. EVERY little bit helps.

Much love and support to all

Ant