Looking for things to do in Hendersonville, NC? Whether you’re a local or just passing through we’ve got loads of great tips and events to help you find your perfect adventure.

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Thursday, November 30, 2023
Angel Tree
Nov 30 all-day
online w/ YWCA

Spread Joy this Holiday Season: Support a YWCA Family Through Angel Tree.

Our Virtual Angel tree is up for this holiday season. This gift tree provides our broader YWCA community a path to join us as we aim to support our program participants and their families with a holiday season full of love and support. If you would like to support a family this holiday season please click here or email Holly Olsen, Director of Women’s Empowerment to get the details of how you can fulfill a family’s holiday wish.

Programs Served by the Angel Tree:

  • MotherLove
    YWCA’s MotherLove program supports pregnant and parenting teens throughout Buncombe County. Our goals are to help young parents to stay in school and graduate, access higher education and vocational training, develop the skills and knowledge needed to become strong parents and delay another teen pregnancy.

  • Getting Ahead In a Just Getting By World
    YWCA’s Getting Ahead program aims to provide financial empowerment for low-income women of all ages and backgrounds to make choices that positively impact themselves, their families, and their community.

  • Early Learning Program
    YWCA’s Early Learning Program provides 5-star childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Our experienced and compassionate teachers not only provide exceptional care for little ones, but also prepare young children to succeed cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We prioritize families using childcare vouchers or caring for children in the foster care system.

  • Empowerment Childcare
    The YWCA provides up to 12 hours of free childcare per week for parents who are in transition, continuing their education, accessing social services, or looking for employment. ECC works closely with the Family Justice Center, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, A-B Tech, Green Opportunities, and Mary Benson House.

Donate to Protect Land and Water Forever
Nov 30 all-day
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
State of NC Completes Land Acquisition for Future Pisgah View State Park

On Friday, Nov. 17 the state of NC completed the last stage in the planned purchase of over 1,500 acres for Pisgah View State Park, the first state park to be designated in Buncombe County!

“Five years ago three members of the Cogburn family sat down in SAHC’s office on Merrimon Avenue,” recalls Jay Leutze, SAHC’s Senior Advisor to the Board. “We walked out of that room with the bones of a deal. SAHC would work with the state of North Carolina to raise the funds to purchase Pisgah View Ranch from the Cogburns.  The state of NC bought the last few acres specified in the contract on Friday — a year earlier than our rosiest projections.  There are too many heroes on a big project like this to name them all here, but stay tuned. Step one was to buy the land, and this was a monumental task.  Now we can look forward to the creation of this breathtaking park and its facilities.  See you in a couple of years at the grand opening!”

Projects like this are made possible because of supporters like YOU.
We are very grateful for all the ways you help to preserve special places across the mountains of NC and TN.  Thank you!

click here to donate: 2018 Annual Giving Program (clickandpledge.com)
aerial image of forested mountaintop
THANK YOU to ALL the folks who continue to support the creation of new parks and the protection of mountains, forests, farmland, wildlife habitat, and clean water.

If you have not made a gift recently, please consider making a donation today!

Ingles Magical Toy Drive
Nov 30 all-day
Various Ingles
Sponsor a child for the holidays
Nov 30 all-day
Eliada Homes
Help Make a Child Smile this Holiday Season!
Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. You can help bring a smile to their face by fulfilling their holiday wishes!

 

Sponsor a Child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a Wish List that a young person created. Wish Lists include their favorite things, clothing sizes, and most needed and wanted items. The value of a Wish List is around $200. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

 

For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

To sign up to sponsor, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected].

Sponsor Multiple Children:

We also have Wish Lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada depending on what program they are in.

 

Cottage wish lists for youth living at Eliada, for example, include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases and kitchen utensils. Many children come to Eliada with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can provide them things that every home should have!

 

Other wish lists are for our Child Development programs, Foster Care program, Farm program, Summer Camp program, and Recreation programs. Our Equine Therapy program also has some needs this holiday season! We never know when we’ll get a call for a child in Foster Care who needs a home immediately. Let’s help Foster Parents provide these children everything they deserve!

 

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until mid-late November. Can you sign up to help one of these teens at the last minute?

If you don’t have time to shop, Eliada will use your donation to purchase gifts for children who may arrive at Eliada very close to Christmas or right after Christmas. It shouldn’t matter when you arrive at Eliada–your wishes should be fulfilled! You can make a donation here. In the comment field, write “holiday wishes.”

 

To sign up to sponsor multiple children or a teen at the last minute, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at rboline@eliada.org or by phone at (828) 254-5356, ext. 306.

United Way’s Holiday Book Drive
Nov 30 all-day
online

We need your help and the help of your network to make this holiday drive as successful as possible in putting new books into the hands of Buncombe County elementary and middle school students during the holiday break.

What better way to spread holiday cheer than by donating books? Imagine the joy on a child’s face when they receive a brand-new book. It’s like sprinkling a little bit of magic into their lives!

We’ve partnered with over a dozen local organizations serving K-12 students throughout the county. They’re eagerly waiting for book drop-offs like kids waiting for the first snowfall! ❄️

You can make a positive impact right now by donating directly using the button below, or why not turn giving back into an outing?

Holiday Book Drive 2023 (givebutter.com)

Visit the Barnes & Noble on Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall to shop in-store and donate them on the spot.

Friday, December 1, 2023
Angel Tree
Dec 1 all-day
online w/ YWCA

Spread Joy this Holiday Season: Support a YWCA Family Through Angel Tree.

Our Virtual Angel tree is up for this holiday season. This gift tree provides our broader YWCA community a path to join us as we aim to support our program participants and their families with a holiday season full of love and support. If you would like to support a family this holiday season please click here or email Holly Olsen, Director of Women’s Empowerment to get the details of how you can fulfill a family’s holiday wish.

Programs Served by the Angel Tree:

  • MotherLove
    YWCA’s MotherLove program supports pregnant and parenting teens throughout Buncombe County. Our goals are to help young parents to stay in school and graduate, access higher education and vocational training, develop the skills and knowledge needed to become strong parents and delay another teen pregnancy.

  • Getting Ahead In a Just Getting By World
    YWCA’s Getting Ahead program aims to provide financial empowerment for low-income women of all ages and backgrounds to make choices that positively impact themselves, their families, and their community.

  • Early Learning Program
    YWCA’s Early Learning Program provides 5-star childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Our experienced and compassionate teachers not only provide exceptional care for little ones, but also prepare young children to succeed cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We prioritize families using childcare vouchers or caring for children in the foster care system.

  • Empowerment Childcare
    The YWCA provides up to 12 hours of free childcare per week for parents who are in transition, continuing their education, accessing social services, or looking for employment. ECC works closely with the Family Justice Center, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, A-B Tech, Green Opportunities, and Mary Benson House.

Donate to Protect Land and Water Forever
Dec 1 all-day
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
State of NC Completes Land Acquisition for Future Pisgah View State Park

On Friday, Nov. 17 the state of NC completed the last stage in the planned purchase of over 1,500 acres for Pisgah View State Park, the first state park to be designated in Buncombe County!

“Five years ago three members of the Cogburn family sat down in SAHC’s office on Merrimon Avenue,” recalls Jay Leutze, SAHC’s Senior Advisor to the Board. “We walked out of that room with the bones of a deal. SAHC would work with the state of North Carolina to raise the funds to purchase Pisgah View Ranch from the Cogburns.  The state of NC bought the last few acres specified in the contract on Friday — a year earlier than our rosiest projections.  There are too many heroes on a big project like this to name them all here, but stay tuned. Step one was to buy the land, and this was a monumental task.  Now we can look forward to the creation of this breathtaking park and its facilities.  See you in a couple of years at the grand opening!”

Projects like this are made possible because of supporters like YOU.
We are very grateful for all the ways you help to preserve special places across the mountains of NC and TN.  Thank you!

click here to donate: 2018 Annual Giving Program (clickandpledge.com)
aerial image of forested mountaintop
THANK YOU to ALL the folks who continue to support the creation of new parks and the protection of mountains, forests, farmland, wildlife habitat, and clean water.

If you have not made a gift recently, please consider making a donation today!

Ingles Magical Toy Drive
Dec 1 all-day
Various Ingles
RiverLink GIVE LOCAL
Dec 1 all-day
online

A Helping of Graditude

River lovers are encouraged to support RiverLink and other community nonprofits through Give!Local, the annual philanthropy program organized by MountainXpress. The first 10 donors of $100 or more to RiverLink will be entered into a drawing for a kayak tour on the French Broad River with Renee Fortner, RiverLink’s expert water resources manager. First Bank is waiving transaction fees, so 100 percent of your donation goes to the nonprofits you select.

Participate in Give!Local
RiverLink deeply appreciates the contributions this community makes directly to the organization — whether as gifts of stock, required IRA distributions, donor-advised funds, donations made in memory of others, and all the ways you give. Please reach out to Susan Andrew at [email protected] for assistance with any of these giving modes. And anyone can use the handy Donate button at the bottom of our newsletters. Thank you!

Sincere gratitude to RiverLink’s recent business supporters — we are honored by your contributions:

  • Astral
  • Bottle Riot
  • Burial Beer Co.
  • Cedar Rock Adventures
  • Curtis Wright Outfitters
  • East Fork Pottery
  • Edgewater Resources
  • Ferguson Waterworks
  • Fresh Market
  • Hellbender Paddleboards
  • High Five Coffee
  • Preserving a Picturesque America
  • Whole Foods
  • Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins
Sponsor a child for the holidays
Dec 1 all-day
Eliada Homes
Help Make a Child Smile this Holiday Season!
Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. You can help bring a smile to their face by fulfilling their holiday wishes!

 

Sponsor a Child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a Wish List that a young person created. Wish Lists include their favorite things, clothing sizes, and most needed and wanted items. The value of a Wish List is around $200. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

 

For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

To sign up to sponsor, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected].

Sponsor Multiple Children:

We also have Wish Lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada depending on what program they are in.

 

Cottage wish lists for youth living at Eliada, for example, include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases and kitchen utensils. Many children come to Eliada with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can provide them things that every home should have!

 

Other wish lists are for our Child Development programs, Foster Care program, Farm program, Summer Camp program, and Recreation programs. Our Equine Therapy program also has some needs this holiday season! We never know when we’ll get a call for a child in Foster Care who needs a home immediately. Let’s help Foster Parents provide these children everything they deserve!

 

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until mid-late November. Can you sign up to help one of these teens at the last minute?

If you don’t have time to shop, Eliada will use your donation to purchase gifts for children who may arrive at Eliada very close to Christmas or right after Christmas. It shouldn’t matter when you arrive at Eliada–your wishes should be fulfilled! You can make a donation here. In the comment field, write “holiday wishes.”

 

To sign up to sponsor multiple children or a teen at the last minute, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at rboline@eliada.org or by phone at (828) 254-5356, ext. 306.

United Way’s Holiday Book Drive
Dec 1 all-day
online

We need your help and the help of your network to make this holiday drive as successful as possible in putting new books into the hands of Buncombe County elementary and middle school students during the holiday break.

What better way to spread holiday cheer than by donating books? Imagine the joy on a child’s face when they receive a brand-new book. It’s like sprinkling a little bit of magic into their lives!

We’ve partnered with over a dozen local organizations serving K-12 students throughout the county. They’re eagerly waiting for book drop-offs like kids waiting for the first snowfall! ❄️

You can make a positive impact right now by donating directly using the button below, or why not turn giving back into an outing?

Holiday Book Drive 2023 (givebutter.com)

Visit the Barnes & Noble on Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall to shop in-store and donate them on the spot.

Donations: Shoebox Gifts for Seniors
Dec 1 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Council on Aging

The Council on Aging for Henderson County (COAHC) wants to make sure all seniors receive a gift this holiday season, and they need your help. For the 25th year, the COAHC will be collecting shoebox gifts filled by community members, then deliver those gifts to Henderson County seniors. Last year they delivered more than 350 boxes to COAHC clients. This year all additional boxes will be donated to clients of Henderson County Department of Social Services Adult Services.
Participants fill a shoe box with small, useful items and gifts, such as hygiene items, gloves, large-print books and puzzles, notepads, calendars, flashlights, and any other small gifts a senior would appreciate. Then bring the wrapped shoebox to the Council on Aging office (105 King Creek Boulevard) during their business hours: Mon-Fri, between 9am and 4pm. Please mark if the box is for a male, female or either. Gift collection ends on Friday, December 8th.
This gift drive is in conjunction with a Meals on Wheels gift drive for requested items from their clients. Participants can choose a client, shop for their requested items, then bring the wrapped gift to the Council on Aging office, where volunteers will distribute the gifts to clients in late December.

Saturday, December 2, 2023
Angel Tree
Dec 2 all-day
online w/ YWCA

Spread Joy this Holiday Season: Support a YWCA Family Through Angel Tree.

Our Virtual Angel tree is up for this holiday season. This gift tree provides our broader YWCA community a path to join us as we aim to support our program participants and their families with a holiday season full of love and support. If you would like to support a family this holiday season please click here or email Holly Olsen, Director of Women’s Empowerment to get the details of how you can fulfill a family’s holiday wish.

Programs Served by the Angel Tree:

  • MotherLove
    YWCA’s MotherLove program supports pregnant and parenting teens throughout Buncombe County. Our goals are to help young parents to stay in school and graduate, access higher education and vocational training, develop the skills and knowledge needed to become strong parents and delay another teen pregnancy.

  • Getting Ahead In a Just Getting By World
    YWCA’s Getting Ahead program aims to provide financial empowerment for low-income women of all ages and backgrounds to make choices that positively impact themselves, their families, and their community.

  • Early Learning Program
    YWCA’s Early Learning Program provides 5-star childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Our experienced and compassionate teachers not only provide exceptional care for little ones, but also prepare young children to succeed cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We prioritize families using childcare vouchers or caring for children in the foster care system.

  • Empowerment Childcare
    The YWCA provides up to 12 hours of free childcare per week for parents who are in transition, continuing their education, accessing social services, or looking for employment. ECC works closely with the Family Justice Center, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, A-B Tech, Green Opportunities, and Mary Benson House.

Donate to Protect Land and Water Forever
Dec 2 all-day
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
State of NC Completes Land Acquisition for Future Pisgah View State Park

On Friday, Nov. 17 the state of NC completed the last stage in the planned purchase of over 1,500 acres for Pisgah View State Park, the first state park to be designated in Buncombe County!

“Five years ago three members of the Cogburn family sat down in SAHC’s office on Merrimon Avenue,” recalls Jay Leutze, SAHC’s Senior Advisor to the Board. “We walked out of that room with the bones of a deal. SAHC would work with the state of North Carolina to raise the funds to purchase Pisgah View Ranch from the Cogburns.  The state of NC bought the last few acres specified in the contract on Friday — a year earlier than our rosiest projections.  There are too many heroes on a big project like this to name them all here, but stay tuned. Step one was to buy the land, and this was a monumental task.  Now we can look forward to the creation of this breathtaking park and its facilities.  See you in a couple of years at the grand opening!”

Projects like this are made possible because of supporters like YOU.
We are very grateful for all the ways you help to preserve special places across the mountains of NC and TN.  Thank you!

click here to donate: 2018 Annual Giving Program (clickandpledge.com)
aerial image of forested mountaintop
THANK YOU to ALL the folks who continue to support the creation of new parks and the protection of mountains, forests, farmland, wildlife habitat, and clean water.

If you have not made a gift recently, please consider making a donation today!

Ingles Magical Toy Drive
Dec 2 all-day
Various Ingles
RiverLink GIVE LOCAL
Dec 2 all-day
online

A Helping of Graditude

River lovers are encouraged to support RiverLink and other community nonprofits through Give!Local, the annual philanthropy program organized by MountainXpress. The first 10 donors of $100 or more to RiverLink will be entered into a drawing for a kayak tour on the French Broad River with Renee Fortner, RiverLink’s expert water resources manager. First Bank is waiving transaction fees, so 100 percent of your donation goes to the nonprofits you select.

Participate in Give!Local
RiverLink deeply appreciates the contributions this community makes directly to the organization — whether as gifts of stock, required IRA distributions, donor-advised funds, donations made in memory of others, and all the ways you give. Please reach out to Susan Andrew at [email protected] for assistance with any of these giving modes. And anyone can use the handy Donate button at the bottom of our newsletters. Thank you!

Sincere gratitude to RiverLink’s recent business supporters — we are honored by your contributions:

  • Astral
  • Bottle Riot
  • Burial Beer Co.
  • Cedar Rock Adventures
  • Curtis Wright Outfitters
  • East Fork Pottery
  • Edgewater Resources
  • Ferguson Waterworks
  • Fresh Market
  • Hellbender Paddleboards
  • High Five Coffee
  • Preserving a Picturesque America
  • Whole Foods
  • Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins
Sponsor a child for the holidays
Dec 2 all-day
Eliada Homes
Help Make a Child Smile this Holiday Season!
Eliada works hard to make the holidays a special time for the children in our care. You can help bring a smile to their face by fulfilling their holiday wishes!

 

Sponsor a Child:

When you sign up to sponsor a child for the holidays, you’ll receive a Wish List that a young person created. Wish Lists include their favorite things, clothing sizes, and most needed and wanted items. The value of a Wish List is around $200. You can divide that cost with friends, or even sponsor several children.

 

For most of Eliada’s children and youth, the gifts they receive from sponsors are the only gifts they will get during the holiday season.

To sign up to sponsor, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at [email protected].

Sponsor Multiple Children:

We also have Wish Lists which include items that children will need here at Eliada depending on what program they are in.

 

Cottage wish lists for youth living at Eliada, for example, include toiletries, bedding and towels, books, games, art supplies, suitcases and kitchen utensils. Many children come to Eliada with a few clothes in a garbage bag. Together we can provide them things that every home should have!

 

Other wish lists are for our Child Development programs, Foster Care program, Farm program, Summer Camp program, and Recreation programs. Our Equine Therapy program also has some needs this holiday season! We never know when we’ll get a call for a child in Foster Care who needs a home immediately. Let’s help Foster Parents provide these children everything they deserve!

 

Sponsor a last minute wish:

Some youth living at Eliada won’t arrive until right before the holidays! We won’t receive their wish lists until mid-late November. Can you sign up to help one of these teens at the last minute?

If you don’t have time to shop, Eliada will use your donation to purchase gifts for children who may arrive at Eliada very close to Christmas or right after Christmas. It shouldn’t matter when you arrive at Eliada–your wishes should be fulfilled! You can make a donation here. In the comment field, write “holiday wishes.”

 

To sign up to sponsor multiple children or a teen at the last minute, please contact Rebecca Boline by email at rboline@eliada.org or by phone at (828) 254-5356, ext. 306.

United Way’s Holiday Book Drive
Dec 2 all-day
online

We need your help and the help of your network to make this holiday drive as successful as possible in putting new books into the hands of Buncombe County elementary and middle school students during the holiday break.

What better way to spread holiday cheer than by donating books? Imagine the joy on a child’s face when they receive a brand-new book. It’s like sprinkling a little bit of magic into their lives!

We’ve partnered with over a dozen local organizations serving K-12 students throughout the county. They’re eagerly waiting for book drop-offs like kids waiting for the first snowfall! ❄️

You can make a positive impact right now by donating directly using the button below, or why not turn giving back into an outing?

Holiday Book Drive 2023 (givebutter.com)

Visit the Barnes & Noble on Tunnel Road at the Asheville Mall to shop in-store and donate them on the spot.

Sunday, December 3, 2023
Angel Tree
Dec 3 all-day
online w/ YWCA

Spread Joy this Holiday Season: Support a YWCA Family Through Angel Tree.

Our Virtual Angel tree is up for this holiday season. This gift tree provides our broader YWCA community a path to join us as we aim to support our program participants and their families with a holiday season full of love and support. If you would like to support a family this holiday season please click here or email Holly Olsen, Director of Women’s Empowerment to get the details of how you can fulfill a family’s holiday wish.

Programs Served by the Angel Tree:

  • MotherLove
    YWCA’s MotherLove program supports pregnant and parenting teens throughout Buncombe County. Our goals are to help young parents to stay in school and graduate, access higher education and vocational training, develop the skills and knowledge needed to become strong parents and delay another teen pregnancy.

  • Getting Ahead In a Just Getting By World
    YWCA’s Getting Ahead program aims to provide financial empowerment for low-income women of all ages and backgrounds to make choices that positively impact themselves, their families, and their community.

  • Early Learning Program
    YWCA’s Early Learning Program provides 5-star childcare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Our experienced and compassionate teachers not only provide exceptional care for little ones, but also prepare young children to succeed cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. We prioritize families using childcare vouchers or caring for children in the foster care system.

  • Empowerment Childcare
    The YWCA provides up to 12 hours of free childcare per week for parents who are in transition, continuing their education, accessing social services, or looking for employment. ECC works closely with the Family Justice Center, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, A-B Tech, Green Opportunities, and Mary Benson House.

RiverLink GIVE LOCAL
Dec 3 all-day
online

A Helping of Graditude

River lovers are encouraged to support RiverLink and other community nonprofits through Give!Local, the annual philanthropy program organized by MountainXpress. The first 10 donors of $100 or more to RiverLink will be entered into a drawing for a kayak tour on the French Broad River with Renee Fortner, RiverLink’s expert water resources manager. First Bank is waiving transaction fees, so 100 percent of your donation goes to the nonprofits you select.

Participate in Give!Local
RiverLink deeply appreciates the contributions this community makes directly to the organization — whether as gifts of stock, required IRA distributions, donor-advised funds, donations made in memory of others, and all the ways you give. Please reach out to Susan Andrew at [email protected] for assistance with any of these giving modes. And anyone can use the handy Donate button at the bottom of our newsletters. Thank you!

Sincere gratitude to RiverLink’s recent business supporters — we are honored by your contributions:

  • Astral
  • Bottle Riot
  • Burial Beer Co.
  • Cedar Rock Adventures
  • Curtis Wright Outfitters
  • East Fork Pottery
  • Edgewater Resources
  • Ferguson Waterworks
  • Fresh Market
  • Hellbender Paddleboards
  • High Five Coffee
  • Preserving a Picturesque America
  • Whole Foods
  • Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins