On October 6, 2024, without fanfare or a huge proclamation, the owners of North Carolina’s The SwagΒ and Cataloochee RanchΒ announced something big.
Hidden in the second paragraph of an emotional Instagram post, they stated, “In honor of the 190 employees at The Swag and Cataloochee Ranch, we are committing to contribute $2 million over the next year to recovery and rebuilding efforts. This week, we will be making our first round of contributions to these wonderful organizations: The North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund, @wckitchen [World Central Kitchen], @haywoodministry [Haywood Christian Ministries], United Way of Haywood County, and @samaritanspurse [Samaritan’s Purse].”
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One of our writers spoke with Annie Colquitt, who co-owns The Swag and Cataloochee Ranch with her husband, David Colquitt, to hear about their experience with Hurricane Helene and the pledge they’ve made to their neighbors.
In Annie’s own words:
We live in Knoxville, Tennessee, so starting Friday morning, we realized this is a much bigger deal than we anticipated. What made the first few days the hardest was the lack of ability to communicate with our team. We knew everyone at The Swag was stuck there for basically 24 hours until the water went down on the roads, and they could safely go home. It took us several days to hear from every employee.
There was a wide difference in how this storm affected everyone. Some people lost their entire homes; some people just lost power for half an hour. It was just a relief when we heard that everyone was ok. It’s hard to sink a property at 5,000 feet, so we are thankful that we suffered very little damage to the properties. Then the question became, how do we move forward? What’s our response?
We told our team about our response first. There was a lot of relief just knowing we’re going to meet some of their needs and they’ll receive some money while we’re closed. There are a lot of unknowns for staff during these disasters. And then we really emphasized that we are going to try to reopen safely and quickly.
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So, part of the plan is to bring people and tax dollars to the community. And then, we’re letting every employee who works for us pick where $1,000 of the money goes. They have loved being part of deciding where the gifts go. They have to give you a few sentences as to why they’re choosing that recipient, so we are learning about a lot of cool things that we didn’t necessarily know about from this process.
I was talking with one of our employees whose kids’ elementary school is a distribution site for resources, and they go as a family to volunteer there every day. She told me, “You know, this has been terrible, but it’s been kind of a formative life-changing thing for my kids in terms of seeing their ability to make a difference for other people.”
Part of the reason we wanted to announce the plan and talk about it is that we hope it inspires other people or companies to do similar things. We are really lucky and blessed to be in a place where we can make big financial gifts. Many people can’t do that. But we want to spark people to think, “What can I do?” or “How can I give my time, resources, or skills and maybe go beyond my comfort zone?”
A huge way to help is to eventually visit the area (to the places reopened) and to support the local economies. It’s a beautiful trickle-down effect because all our vendors and suppliers also get the work when our guests come. When you’re here, talk to the staff at the properties and maybe learn about the brewery down the road that is safe to visit. Try not to drive around to see the destructed areas, whether it’s just out of human curiosity or good faith. They need to work.
If you are looking to book a beautiful escape to the mountains this year or next, might we suggest The Swag or Cataloochee Ranch? You know where your money is going, and you’re guaranteed amazing service, beautiful scenery, and delicious food.
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Looking for more ways to help? Check out these wonderful organizations accepting donations, and subscribe to our daily emails, as we’ll continue to share updates in the coming weeks.
