Good morning. Vice President Kamala Harris went on Call Her Daddy, Former President Donald Trump went on Adin Ross’ stream, and now the White House is on Reddit. Traditional campaign media? So 2020. This election cycle, there’s no platform off limits for reaching the American public.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

After Hurricane Helene slammed the southeastern US last week, creators with hometown ties to affected areas have stepped in, mobilizing their audiences to report on the storm’s devastation and raise money for relief efforts.

Here’s a roundup of how creators are helping out →

Space science creator Camille Bergin, whose family was affected by Helene, made a video explaining how space tech has revolutionized hurricane tracking, interviewing experts to analyze technological blind spots and ID big breakthroughs. “When [the hurricane] hit I was in Mexico City giving a talk on space and asked, ‘Ok, what can I do?’ I can donate a little bit, but I have this platform,” Bergin told us. “I think it’s important to use platforms to talk about things that are really painful, and talk about it in a way that’s hopeful.”

Lifestyle creator Madison Mealy, who lives in a North Carolina area profoundly impacted by Helene, asked her 1.3 million Instagram followers to help out by sending supplies via an Amazon wishlist and buying from local businesses that are donating a portion of their earnings to relief efforts. Mealy’s followers purchased over 1,000 items in an hour after she posted about the efforts.

Mountain biking creator Seth Alvo of Berm Peak shared video footage of some of the devastation that affected his hometown in North Carolina and started collecting relief donations. So far, he’s raised over $30,000 for the American Red Cross.

Racing creator Cleetus McFarland is offering up part of his land in Florida to power crews and search and rescue relief teams.

If you’d like to help families affected by Helene and incoming Hurricane Milton, you can donate to relief crews or assist a response team.

Last week, lifestyle creator Ashley Alexander hosted a pop-up shop in NYC for her new matcha brand, Nami. Over 1,300 people showed up to the all-day event, which included specialty drinks, merch, and the exclusive debut of a new tea flavor, Hojicha. 

“My first meet-up was in 2018. Seven people showed up, and I hadn’t done one since,” Alexander told us. “I thought it had been so long since I’ve done this, it could be a great community-driven moment.”

Here’s what powered the event’s success→

The event was the first in-person experience for Nami, which Alexander launched in July.

“The pop-up helped [Nami] hype-wise and community-wise,” Alexander said. Attendees made content surrounding the event and met Alexander, who answered questions about the brand. “If I’m there, it bridges the gap between the product and who owns the company,” she said.

Looking ahead: The success of this pop-up inspired Alexander to focus on more events and tea flavors. “[The pop-up] put everything in perspective. I already want to do one in LA and hit other cities. The line was so long that not everyone could make it in, so we’re already learning how to do better for the next one.”

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Two Harvard students modified a pair of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses with facial recognition—revealing how easy it is to dox strangers with the tech.

The details: The project, I-XRAY, was created by students Caine Ardayfio and AnhPhu Nguyen. It uses Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses to capture people’s faces, search them on facial recognition sites like PimEyes, and scrape URLs for identity details including jobs, schools, and family members.

The creators told 404 Media they are not releasing the project’s code due to its potential danger. 

“If people do run with this idea, I think that’s really bad,” Ardayfio told 404. “I would hope that awareness that we’ve spread on how to protect your data would outweigh any of the negative impacts this could have.”

NYC creators—join us for a special screening of documentary creator Tejas Hullur’s latest YouTube video series, “How To Become More Attractive, Scientifically” on October 17th. We’ll screen the finale and host a Q+A with Hullur and his producer, Ken. RSVP to reserve your spot here.