Want to help after Helene? Buy a Christmas tree from North Carolina, farmers say

AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — Christmas tree farmers in the mountains of western North Carolina need help recovering.

The industry is a big money maker for the area -- every year, roughly five to seven million trees are harvested.

But after Hurricane Helene left many roads impassable, growers worry that people may not make it to their high country farms. In Avery County, some farmers say their concern over sales is being met with a lot of support from customers.

“I got a message from a couple different people, you know, ‘We’ve never had a real Christmas tree, we’ve only had an artificial tree,’ and they said they’re going to buy a real tree,” one tree grower said. “So we may turn a negative into a positive.”

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The farmer is hopeful this will be their best year yet because of the support from other Carolinians. You can find tree farms near you at this link.

On Monday, staffers with The White House will be in Avery County to choose a Christmas tree.

Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm in Newland was named the 2024 Grand Champion grower at the National Christmas Tree Contest. The White House team will make the selection this week, and it’ll be harvested on Nov. 20 before being presented to First Lady Jill Biden. The tree will be displayed in the Blue Room of the White House.

(VIDEO: Community hit hard by Helene leans on faith to salvage what’s left)