Hurricane Relief Efforts And Links 

In a previous Newsletter I highlighted some of the amazing folks doing work to restore people’s lives in Florida and Western North Carolina where I visited criminal justice programs and a couple of old friends just a couple of days before Helene cut a path of destruction through this area full of small mountain communities. We’ve added links here and will continue to update and share information about groups that are as close to the ground as possible providing practical support to folks grappling with back-to-back disasters and impossible conditions. 

— The Center of Anna Maria Island where I played sports (badly) and hung out after school is a staging area for relief supplies and volunteers to get matched with folks in need https://centerami.org/

— Just across the bridge in the historic fishing village of Cortez, the destruction and impact on folks least equipped to recover is breathtaking. The Blessing Bags Project has been focusing on the needs of this community while the Cortez Church of Christ and the Sunny Shores Clubhouse are both distributing relief and meals.

— A friend who’s the pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta is coordinating that congregation’s support of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in Western North Carolina which has become a major hub for supplies and volunteers for the whole region. To learn more click here.

Since we shared those resources, we’ve been working to identify other groups providing direct support and will continue to use our socials and website to share ways that we can get help to those in need as quickly as possible:

— Anna Maria Elementary School is currently unusable and the school is co-locating with a school on the mainland. This is where my siblings and I attended grade school and is just a really special place. Since there wasn’t time to gather materials before evacuating, they needed everything. The President of the Parent Teacher Association and the school principal have created and shared an Amazon wish list that really runs the gamut of needs.

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