Help full-time knifemakers whose shops have been damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Harvey through a program initiated by the folks at USA Knifemaker.

A leading supplier of knifemaking equipment, materials, tools and other products used to make knives, USA Knifemaker’s assistance program is designed to help full-time knifemakers—and with floodwaters continuing to rage in and around Houston, Texas, the effort comes not one moment too soon.

“We would like to help our knifemaker brothers that have been wiped out to get back on their feet,” notes Tracy Mickley of USA Knifemaker. “This isn’t about advertising. This isn’t about making us look good. This is about doing the right thing and about helping people in need. If I could do this quietly I would, but I can’t. These guys need your help and I am going to bang the drum as loud as I can to get some help headed their way.”

USAknifemaker.com will match donations up to $2,000 in knifemaking supplies for full-time knifemakers that have lost their shops to the hurricane and flood. “If I can manage more I will but right now it’s the best I can do,” Mickley writes. “If public donations do not reach $2,000 for the match, we will still give out the full $2,000 in the form of gift certificates to USAknifemaker.com. I hope we can max this out to $4,000 plus.

“We will give $250 gift certificates to eight—at the minimum, we hope for at least 16 or more—full-time knifemakers that have had their shops destroyed by floods. It’s not enough to restock a shop. I get that. I also understand there are hundreds, maybe thousands of part-time makers that also have had tragic losses and I wish we could help everyone. Those makers that depend on knifemaking as their primary income can use our help as a community.”

Send a check, cash, use Paypal or a credit card. “We will cover the Paypal and credit card fees,” Mickley notes. “We will total up the donations and match up to $2,000 to be given out as gift certificates to eight full-time makers. If the total of public donations exceeds $2,000, we will compile the extra and give out as many $250 gift certificates as the funds allow. One-hundred percent of donations will be given out. We will recap all activity on Knifedogs.com for full transparency here.

“We are asking you to provide names and contact information of full-time knifemakers in and around the Houston area that you know who have lost their shop or had significant shop damage. We do not need a list of random names of makers in the area. We need to know who got hurt in this. We will have to filter out opportunists so we will require proof of loss in the form of pictures of their shop and a short description of damage. To be clear, we aren’t ‘covering’ any other losses. There are other agencies for that. We are trying to help those that lost their knifemaking shop.

“I am hoping for a lot of interest and support,” Mickley continues. “I will have a thread on Knifedogs.com to track donations, candidates and awards, and to keep this transparent. I welcome your input and suggestions on how the knifemaking community can step up and lend a hand. Post your comments and suggestions here.”