Local business owners and residents took it upon themselves to offer aid to their communities after hurricanes Helene and Milton brought destruction to the Tampa Bay area.
These everyday heroes emerged when they saw the need for help in their neighborhoods and cities; needs that had not been met.
Leah Ryan, a voluntary pre-kindergarten teacher at Orange Grove Elementary in Seminole, transformed her front driveway into a charging station and neighborhood hangout for people to charge their devices and cool off.
“I kind of feel guilty,” Ryan said. “All these people are struggling with so much and here we are with so much.”
After Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on Oct. 9, there were 412,906 power outages by 12:21 a.m. the next morning in Pinellas County.
Ryan's electricity was restored the following day, and on Oct. 11 she set up the charging station in her driveway.
She put out a canopy, a coffee maker, toys for children and chairs in her driveway so that families could come to chat and cool off in a place with electricity. Ryan and her family bought hamburgers and hotdogs to serve to people who hadn't been able to eat a hot meal since Milton made landfall. They also served their own food that they had bought in preparation in the event they didn’t have power for a few days.
Other community members brought additional resources to chip in, such as bottled water and pizza, Ryan said.
Ryan felt the charging station brought a sense of community to her neighborhood.
“I really hope people don't lose their sense of compassion for each other once this all goes away,” she said.
Sara Garas, the CEO of Top Buttons St. Pete, a nonprofit organization, began a project to donate clothes to women who lost their belongings to hurricane flooding.
Top Buttons St. Pete is a faith-based organization that helps women who have suffered victimizing circumstances such as human trafficking, abuse and addiction. The nonprofit offers tools and resources such as a clothing boutique, mentorship and workshops for creating resumes to help women present their best selves to the world, according to the organization’s website.
“Our focus is to empower women and help women get over bad situations and have a brighter future,” Garas said, “and this is exactly that.”
Garas lost some of her own clothing to the storm surge that flooded the bottom floor of her house during Hurricane Helene. She recognized that many other women had lost clothing that they needed for work and professional settings, and she felt convicted to help.
Top Buttons St. Pete partnered with Reach St. Pete, an organization whose mission is to provide resources to individuals experiencing hardships while removing barriers that hinder access to a better life. Reach St. Pete is offering free vouchers that allow women victimized by the hurricanes to shop for clothes up to $75 in value from Top Buttons St. Pete boutique.
The project is called “Hurricane Relief initiative: wardrobe restoration.” It began Oct. 1 and will continue until Oct. 31.
Jonathan Hilditch, the owner of Hello Sweetie Sweets, of St. Pete Beach, has worked on organizing disaster relief since Sept. 27, the day after Helene made landfall in Florida. He worked with locals to bring aid to citizens on the barrier islands of Pinellas County with the use of boats and jet skis while all the bridge accesses to the islands were closed to vehicles.
He began to organize donation drives for daily necessities, such as food and water, as well as cleaning supplies for people impacted by flooding on the barrier islands. After Milton made landfall, Hilditch adjusted the aid to the overwhelming need of the majority of Pinellas County residents; power outages.
“People have lost all their food and refrigeration,” Hilditch said. “So we've been concentrating on feeding neighborhoods that don't have power.”
Hilditch continued to work with other residents to organize donation drives and events to feed neighborhoods that didn’t have electricity. He partnered with organizations such as local churches as well as food vendors as far as Gainesville to provide free hot meals for locals.
Hilditch was impacted by both hurricanes.
His shop was damaged by internal sewage flooding after Helene made landfall. The store isn’t currently open, but Hilditch said he hopes to get the business online soon. Milton damaged his house and created leaks in the roof.
Hilditch chose to focus on his community, despite the damage to his property.
“My house is what it is. My shop is what it is,” Hilditch said. “I’m not going to sit here and sulk.”
Hilditch expressed concern about the response from local leadership, and he said that the lack of disaster relief from outside organizations is what spurred local grassroot relief efforts.
He said he will continue to provide disaster relief aid until there isn’t a need for it anymore.
“Life will eventually get back to normal. Our stores will eventually get fixed. Homes will eventually get fixed,” Hilditch said. “In the meantime, it's going to be a bit of a challenge.”
