LISTEN UP, NERDS!

Kelley Shinn desperately needs our help. Hurricane Dorian devastated Kelley's home on Ocracoke Island. Her house filled with several feet of water and mud. Her front yard is now a lake teeming with debris, including a large piece of her neighbor's home. And, yes, there are many people whose lives have been changed by this hurricane, but let me tell you why Kelley deserves your support:

Kelley is a fiercely independent and skilled woman, an amazing writer and all-around badass. She is also a single mother of two and a double amputee. But Kelley's prosthetic legs have rarely held her back. In fact, Kelley is, more often than not, the caretaker. She has worked with land mine survivors in Bosnia. She helps to care for several of her elderly neighbors on Ocracoke. She has taken in an untold number of Hollins University students and friends, acting as a surrogate mom when they were sick or struggling. Kelley's middle schooler, Silas, still lives at home with her, and for the woman who has acted as a mother to so many, we know that returning life to normal for Silas is looming large on Kelley's mind. Now is our opportunity to give back to a woman who never hesitates to help others.

And get this, friends, despite being personally knocked around a bit by the storm, Kelley is out there right now helping her fellow Ocracokers and anyone else currently stuck on the island.

What does Kelley need? Money. There will be no home owner's insurance check for Kelley. We may be one of her primary sources of financial assistance as she tries to rebuild. A list of needed items (both for Kelley and her neighbors) will eventually be shared on Amazon, but for now, no one can get on or off of the island. The roads are largely impassable. Kelley's trademark Jeep was also flooded and salt-ruined beyond repair so she has been using a bike that washed up in her yard (which, it should be noted, she liberated from her fence but chopping it out with an axe!) to get around. Kelley needs money to hire workers and to buy supplies and materials. 

We will keep you updated on Kelley's situation. In the meantime, thank you for your donations. Every dollar helps.