BY EMMA CASTLEBERRY

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Of course, few western North Carolina restaurateurs had the luxury of researching best practices before issuing their appeals. In his campaign for Posana, a downtown Asheville restaurant that specializes in gluten-free cuisine, general manager Jesus Zafiro used 132 words, no photographs, and no videos to convey the seriousness of the situation for Posana employees.

His message began, “The aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville has been profound and we would like to thank everyone who has reached out to share their sentiments with us at Posana. Each message is a reminder of why we do what we do in this beautiful city we call home.”

“I have a lot of hourly paid employees that their life source is the income that they get from the restaurant,” Zafiro said in an interview. “The majority of our [front-of-house] staff depends on that October income to get through the off-season.”

Zafiro initially promoted his “Support Posana Staff” GoFundMe campaign on his personal Facebook page with a goal of $3,000, which he reached within two days. Then, he upped the goal to $20,000 and asked the owners of Posana if he could share it on the business accounts. Within 10 days, the GoFundMe had raised more than $9,000.