The motto "Apes together strong" isn’t just a slogan; it’s a lifestyle that Bored Ape Yacht Club members embody wholeheartedly. Recently, they rallied around longtime member VickiJEth to help save her ice cream shop, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Last week, the world watched as Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm, unleashing heavy rain and strong winds across the Sunshine State, including at VickiJEth’s Haze Ice Cream Shop in Madeira Beach.
With her beloved business on the line, VickiJ created a GoFundMe campaign, reaching out to her customers and frens from around the swamp for help.
“Many of you know, but for those that don’t our family came over from the UK with just 5 suitcases in 2017 to run Haze and make all our own ice cream, in that time we have weathered Irma and re-locating our beloved store from Indian Shores to Madeira beach in 2020, we are now at the point where we need to ask for your help, our freezers are at a total loss, we lost all our ice cream,” Vicki wrote online. “We have tried to save some things but in reality our little beach store will need help getting through the next few months so we can get back to making our delicious ice cream which you all love and care about us much as we do.”
The outpouring of support was overwhelming as fellow Apes flooded social media with positive vibes, and many donated what they could to help save this bored business!
“Monkey JPEGs oh you own one of those, is the most common thing you hear people say irl,” VickiJ told the Gazette. “Well I got news for them it’s not just a JPEG it’s a huge worldwide community of people from every culture and background you can think of. This week I got to experience 2 life changing moments first one was hurricane Helene it blew through my community and ice cream store, the second was I created a go fund me (my first ever) to get back on our feet again, so many bayc community members came out, along with so many other people we serve to donate and help. I’m still kinda speechless tbh so many kind words have been sent over to us I thought yesterday we would have to leave now I have a lifeline to rebuild.”
At the time of this article’s publication, VickiJ’s GoFundMe had received $18,479 USD in donations from 131 donors, including a $1,000 USD donation from Yuga Labs CEO Garga.
“It’s times like these when the web3 community comes together & restores my faith in the people behind it,” BAYC BoredBecky tweeted. “ICYMI — let’s help @VickijEth reach her fundraising goal (she’s getting close)!
Apes who are interested in making a donation to VickiJ can check out her GoFundMe here:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-rebuild-haze-ice-cream-together
The Bored Ape Gazette will continue to follow VickiJ and her Haze Ice Cream shop and will let you know when she reopens so you can grab a scoop. Stay tuned for updates!
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