Florida trial lawyers deliver $50K in supplies to Hurricane Ian victims

Volunteers (From right: FJA President-elect Steve Cain and Charger Water Regional Sales and Marketing Manager Wayne Anderson) help unload supplies in Southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian. Cain has helped before, offering up $30K in supplies from his own funds during previous response efforts. Image via Jeff Porter.

Members of the Florida Justice Association (FJA) rallied support last week following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ian to Southwest Florida to provide needed supplies to those hardest hit and most in need.

The group utilized its 501(c)(3), the FJA Research and Education Foundation, to raise funds to purchase items such as food, water, generators, hygiene supplies, chainsaws and other items to distribute to individuals in and around Fort Myers and North Port.

Within 24 hours of launching the fundraiser, the group raised about $30,000. Since then, the amount raised has grown to about $50,000.

“It allowed our staff to just go out and start buying supplies,” FJA Deputy Executive Director Jeff Porter said. “We saw what happened with Hurricane Michael and we saw the size of Ian, and as the images came back showing how the impacted areas were looking, we just said, ‘We need to help people down there.’”

Porter and his team at FJA are based in Tallahassee, which in 2018 was battered by Michael.

Porter, and a team of about 25 members of FJA quickly rallied to purchase items, set up a donation website and lined up transportation to the Fort Myers area to deliver supplies.

In all, Porter said the group was able to purchase and distribute 19 generators and necessary gas cans to keep them running; four pallets of water; several cases of large tarps (about 80-90 tarps); 18 chainsaws; diapers, personal hygiene items; charcoal grills and charcoal; paper products and more.

Porter used his personal truck, loaded to capacity, to make the trek to Southwest Florida. Brecht Heuchan and Foyt Ralston, both lobbyists with FJA, traveled with him — Heuchan in a full-size truck with a trailer towing behind and Ralston in a rented U-Haul.

The group coordinated with local and state officials to determine where best to mobilize resources. Their first stop in the Fort Myers area was eye opening.

“These officials were overwhelmed, so many lost everything,” Porter said.

Yet he compared their storm response to the airline safety spiel everyone gets before liftoff.

“You have a mask that comes down in a crisis, but you have to take care of the children first,” he said. “They’re coordinating this response while working to get their own lives back together.”

The group left about two-thirds of the supplies they gathered with the Salvation Army to distribute to areas that need it the most.

From there, they headed to North Fort Myers where they brought supplies to a mobile home community.

“On their best day, before a hurricane, they have very, very little,” Porter said. “Their very little turned to nothing.”

He described the heart-wrenching scene as residents, many with children, lined up to get lunch.

“It looked like a war zone. You just saw this line of people. They had no food. They had kids with them. They had no diapers, just nothing,” Porter added.

The trio stopped last in North Port which, while it escaped Hurricane Ian’s eye, suffered extreme wind. Trees were down. Roofs were blown from homes. There, they dropped the remaining supplies at another mobile home park that suffered extreme devastation.

“We all know someone who has been affected (by a hurricane),” Porter said. “And we could all be impacted at some point.”

He said the experience was humbling, noting that in the initial days after a disaster, “humankind is at its best.”

Porter doesn’t accept credit for his group’s efforts, but points to a team “with hearts of gold.”

“Everyone just dropped what they were doing to help.”

The group continues to accept contributions and will facilitate additional relief for those in need. Individuals can contribute to the cause here.

The Florida Justice Association is a trial lawyer advocacy group that works to strengthen and uphold Florida’s civil justice system and protect citizens and consumers.