ST. PETE, Fla. — After Hurricane Ian, people and organizations from around the state stopped what they were doing in order to help.
For a couple of nonprofit organizations in Tampa Bay, the work wasn’t what they were used to, but their heart was already in the right place.
Wade Sabourine delivers guitars to military families through his charity Heart Strings for Heroes, but this month his desire to give is playing a different tune.
“As many supplies as we could get, we had water, food, toiletries, feminine products, generators, gas and we went down to three of the hardest hit areas,” Sabourine said.
Terry Collier, who provides therapy through his own nonprofit Legacy Resource Foundation, couldn’t wait to join the mission.
“It’s all about networking and great organizations working together,” Collier said.
The two men collected names of people in need and drove right to their homes.
“Telephone poles snapped like toothpicks, and there were transformers in the middle of the road that we literally drove around,” Sabourine said, explaining his trip.
They were asked to check on one particular 83-year-old Fort Myers man named Bill.
“He’s from Pittsburgh, he’s never been through a hurricane," Collier said. "He said he’s going to stay put and not going to evacuate. I don’t think he knew what he was in for."
Collier and Sabourine arrived just in time.
“He lives in a nice home, but it just got obliterated," Collier said. "It was unsafe for him, and there was no help available. We had chainsaws, we had tools, and we helped clear the danger out."
Then it was on to the next family or drop-off location.
“Words can’t even describe how grateful they were,” Collier said.
Collier and Sabourine have since returned to their own charities back home.
But this new endeavor they started together will only continue. They are planning another trip in November.
“If you have a family member that you know is not getting the resources that they need, they can use some encouragement, or a visit, give us their name and address, we’ll go down and visit them one on one,” Collier said.
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