HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS IN SWFL
Elegant Outdoor Living is directly involved with hurricane relief efforts in Southwest Florida.
Our community has provided Elegant Outdoor Living with growth and success over the past 12 years, and now it is our turn to give back.
What We Are Doing As A Company To Help SWFL:
As a small business continuing to help our local communities, we want to encourage others to support local businesses, restaurants, and services. With your support, our local businesses can continue to pay their employees and staff and rebuild SWFL stronger than ever.
1. Our Manufacturers
Our manufacturers have reached out, asking what they can do to help.
Telescope Casual is donating:
- 112 reusable shopping bags for people to carry the supplies back to their homes/shelters
- 153 Bright yellow shirts for volunteers to wear while working in the clean-up areas
- Two Cases of hand sanitizer that we will distribute
The International Casual Furnishings Association, MAMAGREEN, and Ratana donated reusable shopping bags to support supply distribution, totaling over 500.
2. Our Family and Employees
The Stegman Family started a community drive for supplies in their neighborhoods, and we received two huge donations from Parkland, Florida. Along with monetary donations from friends and family across the country and our employees, we delivered truckloads of supplies to the most devastated areas in southwest Florida on Friday, 10/7/2022.
3. Business Partners
We coordinated efforts with Kayla Collier, the founder of the Facebook group Boots on the Ground: 239 Disaster Relief, to work together to bring donations from communities in North Carolina to Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday, 10/7/2022. Our company’s own copywriter, Kayla, created the FB page to bring people together to donate, volunteer, and communicate in SWFL. The page now has 900+ members and continues to create awareness of the most needed areas and residents in our community.
Elegant Outdoor Living donated money to cover the expense of renting one of the trucks for Kayla’s crew from NC to Fort Myers. We were able to pick up more supplies from the donations at Face It Botox Bar Fort Myers to help in our donation drops on that Friday.
4. Donation Distribution
On October 7, 2022, we delivered 3 fully loaded trucks of supplies to the Harlem Heights area, Heights Foundation, Gladiolus Food Pantry, and FMB Strong nearin Fort Myers Beach with the help of our delivery crew, family, and friends, and the 239 Boots on the Ground Team from NC.
FMB Strong was created by owner Tim Ryan of Island Cart Rentals after Hurricane Ian flooded his rental facility. After cleaning the water and sludge from the facility, he turned his 3,000-square-foot warehouse into a donation drop site and staging area for supplies. These supplies are being sent to the residents of Fort Myers Beach and surrounding areas.
5. Continuing Our Efforts
We will continue our efforts to support our local SWFL community if needed to help rebuild.
We will be updating our social media pages with current and future efforts. Make sure you are following Elegant Outdoor Living on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
If you have questions on donations and supplies needed, please contact Stephanie at stephaniestegman@elegantoutdoors.com
How can you help?
1. Support Local Businesses
Many local shops and restaurants had extensive damage or lost their businesses completely. You can help them rebuild and continue to pay their employees by buying their merchandise and gift cards online. Check out your favorite local restaurants and shops on their websites and social media pages.
2. Donate Supplies or Make A Monetary Donation to Help Local Charities and Organizations
If you are local and choose to donate supplies to our local community shelters and communities, check their websites, Facebook, and Instagram pages for the most up-to-date supply list needs as they are changing daily.
Florida Disaster Fund is the State of Florida’s official private fund established to assist Florida’s communities as they respond to and recover during times of emergency or disaster. Donated funds serve individuals within their communities with disaster response and recovery. You can also text DISASTER to 20222.
Better Together is leveraging the strength of its team and volunteers to aid communities and families that have been affected by Hurricane Ian. Follow along on their Facebook as they are serving some of the hardest-hit communities across SWFL.
The Heights Foundation The Heights Center is a donation drop-off site and pickup location for Harlem Heights residents to come to pick up items they need from diapers, and food, to clothing. Stay up-to-date on their Facebook page here.
Gladiolus Food Pantry is on the front lines providing support to our neighbors struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. This food pantry used to feed 850 people a month. They are now a donation drop-off center and pickup location for residents that are serving over 1,000 each day. They are updating their Facebook page daily with hours of operation, needs, and news.
FMB Strong is located at 820 Buttonwood Dr, Fort Myers Beach, FL, and is accepting donations in the form of supplies and is also looking for volunteers. For daily needs and updates, visit their Facebook page.
FK Your Diet Fort Myers is cooking up free meals, accepting monetary donations via Venmo @fkyourdiet and PayPal, has an Amazon Wish List set up for items to be delivered directly to hurricane victims, and is collecting non-perishable food, gallon water, cleaning supplies, new socks, new undergarments from infant to adult sizes. They are posting daily updates on Facebook. Location: 19630 S. Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers, FL 33908.
FMB Strong is a nonprofit that gathers supplies, food, and other items for residents in the 33931 zip code and is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (9AM-5PM) and Wednesday (9A-7P). Here is their Amazon Wish List if you’d like to donate.
Eva’s Closet & Foundation serves low income, homeless, & transient families in SWFL. You can check out their website or view their Amazon Wish list.
3. Access Local Resources
Florida Disaster provides all information needed in reference to the relief and recovery of Hurricane Ian in SWFL.
NBC-2 News has listed out emergency resources for residents in Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties.
Search for opportunities to volunteer on Volunteer Connect powered by Volunteer Florida. You can also email Volunteer Florida at info@volunteerflorida.org or call (850)-414-7400.
DisasterAssistance.gov can help individuals access local immediate resources and provide the closest FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers.
For additional questions about the Florida Disaster Fund, please contact info@volunteerflorida.org or call (850) 414-7400.
