It may not be Superman flying forth, but what does come out of a homemade phone booth in a North Asheville neighborhood still brings a smile to people’s faces. Since February, Angie Fornof has been offering toys, art, jewelry, candy and DVDs in the vending machine that she’s enclosed in a wooden phone booth replica outside her home on Madison Avenue.
“I like how happy it makes everyone who comes by,” she notes. The machine also offers contraceptives and Naloxone, a medication used to reverse the effects of opioids, for free.
But in April, the City of Asheville notified Fornof that The Mad Phone Booth was in violation of city ordinances. Fornof had to shut it down to avoid fines. As of June 5, the machine offers all its contents for free, with an option to donate to offset the costs. The move to a donation basis circumvents the rules for now, Fornof notes, but the model is unsustainable.
West Asheville resident Karley Haddock is no stranger to The Mad Phone Booth. She says she’s stopped by the machine on more than one occasion while visiting a friend in North Asheville. On her most recent trip, she and her 3-year-old daughter, Louise, donated to the cause in exchange for some candy. On a previous visit, she purchased a phone charger…