GREENFIELD, Wis. — Hurricane Ian uprooted hundreds of thousands of lives. The recovery in Florida will be long and costly.
Amid the devastation, it’s seeing people coming together to help that brings some much-needed hope to survivors left cleaning up.
In Greenfield, a trailer is already being filled with donated supplies. You can find it in the parking lot of the Ridge Community Church near Highway 100 and Layton, which is organizing this effort.
Church volunteers will be there every day this week to collect and load the supplies on the trailer.
Besides personal hygiene items, non-perishable food, batteries, and cleaning supplies, the Ridge Community Church is also putting out a plea to local businesses for help with bigger items.
“They're looking for generators, chainsaws, and other major tools to clean up the massive destruction,” said Kelly Eger, Director of Compassion of the Ridge Community Church.
“In church, we talk about loving our neighbor a lot, and that always sounds good, but here’s a very real, tangible way to do that,” said Lead Pastor Mark Weigt. “How would we want the response to be if it was us in their shoes? If those were our homes?”
Weigt lived in Florida for more than 10 years before coming to Wisconsin. He was there through Hurricane Andrew in the '90s.
One of the first people to drop off supplies on Monday was Diane Morrison, who has been spending winters in Florida for years. She goes to Bonita Springs, between Fort Myers and Naples, which are among the worst hit areas.
RELATED CONTENT: Help those affected by Hurricane Ian by donating to the Scripps Howard Fund for Hurricane Relief
She’s been unable to get in touch with some friends there since the storm hit.
“It’s scary,” she said. “I’m heading down in two weeks to help in any way I can.”
In the meantime, she can drop off supplies that will go directly to the clean-up efforts.
“Entire areas are decimated, and because Florida is so hot, the mold is a real problem, so the longer the power is off, the faster the mold's going to grow," said Morrison. “It will never, ever be the same there. I plan to bring another carload of supplies here to put on the trailer. It doesn’t take much to buy some stuff.”
Volunteers will fill a semi-truck with the supplies and drive it down to Fort Myers Beach on Sunday.
Milwaukee area collection location:
The Ridge Community Church – Greenfield Campus
4500 S 108th St. (Highway 100 & Layton)
Greenfield, WI
Drop-off hours:
Monday – Friday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Items requested
*To ensure the most practical kind of help for hurricane victims, only items from this list will be accepted.
- Water
- Chainsaw/chains
- Battery box charger
- Batteries
- Protein bars
- Granola
- Peanut butter
- Canned food
- Can openers
- Flashlights with batteries
- Sports drinks
- Plates, bowls, utensils
- Blankets
- Towels
- Toothbrushes and toothpaste
- Deodorant
- Soap
- Zip Lock bags
- Pet food
- Clorox wipes
- Hand wipes
- Paper towel
- Toilet paper
- Bleach
- Socks
- Underwear
- Feminine hygiene products
- New and empty gas cans
- Generators
