Hurricane Helene has been the talk of every town and county spanning across the state of Florida this week.
As we wake up this morning, millions of the Southeast’s residents face the reality of destruction that will take months, even years, to repair. Hurricanes are no joke, and we as Floridians take on that risk knowing that they tend to favor our warm Gulf waters.
We may think we know what we are getting ourselves into living in the sunshine state. Yet still, hurricanes tend to wreak unpredictable havoc despite our efforts to plan and prepare.
For people in Pensacola, Helene missed us by a hair. The rest of the Southeast is looking at power outages, severe wind damage, and waiting for flooding to recede.
It’s hard to forget the feeling of “we are all in this together” with fellow neighbors and communities surrounding when a storm of this size barrels in. Organizations like the list below are staged and ready to deploy out to the most affected areas to restore supplies, food, and power to residents in need.
As an effort to support our Southeastern neighbors we’ve combined a list of vetted organizations who are on the scene contributing to these restoration efforts. If you’d like to help, making donations or contacting these organizations directly would be a good place to start. This list is provided by The Weather Channel.
Florida Disaster Fund
The Florida Disaster Fund is the state’s of Florida’s official private fundraiser for disaster relief. The fund provides financial assistance to communities as they respond to and recover from emergencies or disasters like Hurricane Helene. Visit The Florida Disaster Fund website for more information and to contribute.
American Red Cross
As Hurricane Helene made landfall, the American Red Cross deployed hundreds of trained disaster workers and assited more than 2,600 people in shelters. Their work will continue through cleanup and recovery. Learn more or donate by visiting redcross.org or calling 800-RED-CROSS. You can also make a significant impact as a future Red Cross volunteer or by signing up to give blood.
United Way
The United Way assists in disaster-related evacuations, shelters, food/clothing distributions, volunteer opportunities and other resources. Monetary contributions can be made to the United Way of Florida Disaster Fund.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army operates mobile feeding units, emergency disaster warehouses and other relief efforts. You can call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769) to make a donation by phone, text STORM to 51555 or use the Salvation Army Hurricane Helene Relief webpage.
Our hearts are with the state of Florida and surrounding areas who will see the impacts of this storm for the weeks to come. Please feel free to share this with anyone who may be looking to help in some way. Times like these remind us that we are all better when we work together!
