I’m starting this GoFundMe for someone very special to me, my friend Ashley, the owner of Just One More Chapter in downtown Glens Falls, New York.

Ashley has poured her heart, her time, her creativity, and more than a few sleepless nights into building a bookstore along side her family, that is so much more than a place to buy books.

It’s her passion project. Started over brunch.

Ashley is doing all of this while raising a family. With three kids in school. And if that weren’t enough to keep her busy, she also works overnight shifts in EMS.

Yes, you read that right.

She is working overnight shifts, taking care of her family and somehow still finding the time and energy to chase this incredible dream of opening an independent bookstore in downtown Glens Falls.

I honestly don’t know when she sleeps.

Just One More Chapter was created to be a place where people can walk through the door and feel welcome. A place for readers to discover their next favorite book, meet other book lovers, talk about characters like they’re real people, and probably spend money they swore they weren’t going to spend because, well…

There’s always room for just one more book.

But owning a small independent bookstore is no small undertaking.

Ashley has worked incredibly hard to bring this dream to life while balancing her family, her overnight EMS job, and everything else life throws at her.

She isn’t just building a business.

She’s building something she hopes will create a future and a special place for her family and for the community she loves. Ashley has been building a bookstore along side family.

I didn’t even know Ashley until I walked into her book store almost two years ago and just never left.

And there’s just one thing we’d love to help her with.

An awning.

It might sound like a small thing, but it would make a tremendous difference.

An awning would give the storefront a finished, welcoming look. It would make Just One More Chapter easier to spot from the street and help establish it as a beautiful and lasting part of downtown Glens Falls.

But to me, it’s more than that.

That awning would be a little piece of proof that Ashley’s community believes in what she’s doing. That Ashley’s huge extended family believes in her.

That her dream matters.

That all those overnight shifts, family responsibilities, long days, late nights, and hours spent working on the bookstore are leading somewhere.

That’s why I’m asking for your help.

I’m starting this fundraiser because Ashley is my friend. Because I believe in her. And because I’ve watched her work incredibly hard to make this dream a reality.

Sometimes it takes a village to make a dream happen.

I want us to be that village for Ashley.

If you can donate, no matter how small, every dollar will help get Just One More Chapter one step closer to having the awning it needs.

If you can’t donate, please share this fundraiser. Share it with your friends, your family, your book club, your fellow readers, and that one person in your life who can somehow turn “I’m just going to browse” into a $75 bookstore purchase.

Every donation and every share helps.

Because this isn’t just about putting an awning over a bookstore.

It’s about helping a friend build the dream she has worked so hard for, while building a life for the family she loves.

Let’s show Ashley that she doesn’t have to build it alone.

Let’s put an awning over Just One More Chapter and give this little bookstore the stamp it deserves in downtown Glens Falls.

And when that awning finally goes up, I hope Ashley looks at it and sees something much bigger than a storefront.

I hope she sees her family, her friends, her customers, and her community standing behind her.

Because sometimes a dream needs a little help from the people who believe in it.

And Ashley deserves that help.

Let’s give her this chapter.