At the Greater Pine Island Alliance, we’ve been busy assisting survivors of Hurricanes Ian, Helene, and Milton in our community. While most of the Response Phase (muck & gut, debris removal, etc.) is complete, we are right in the middle of the Recovery Phase. In this phase, GPIA is helping many of our friends and neighbors who are in the process of rebuilding and repairing their homes as well as navigating their recovery process.

In 2024, we had a total of 6,240 volunteer hours donated to our community and in 2025 we already have 6,222. Although, we have completed 96 cases since Helene and Milton alone, we still have 111 active cases, and we continue to receive help requests each week.

In recent months, we have had wonderful opportunities to partner with organizations like the Red Cross, Somebody Cares, United Way, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), AmeriCorps, Americares, Habitat for Humanity, and the Salvation Army just to name a few. These organizations have helped us with donations of time, funding, building supplies, appliances, furniture and other items needed by homeowners.

In April, GPIA helped facilitate the distribution of over $100,000 worth of gifts in kind. This included building supplies, as well as household goods. For more GPIA stats visit our webpage at GPIAlliance

GPIA is still in need of:

·    Volunteers skilled in building trades

·    Unskilled volunteers to assist the skilled volunteers with physical labor

·    Donations for building supplies, contractor work, and funding support for our case managers/disaster navigators

Click here to sign yourself or your group up to volunteer now.

You can also donate to recovery here.

If you still need help with hurricane recovery, please click here to fill out our form. You can also stop by our offices, 10484 Stringfellow Road, Suite 2, St. James City, FL 33956, or call us at 239.558.4901 to register for help.

Although we are still recovering, Hurricane Season starts June 1, so now is the time to PREPARE.

Tips for Hurricane Preparedness:

·    Take inventory of your hurricane supplies

·    Make a list of bigger, more expensive items such as chainsaws and generators to purchase during the hurricane preparedness tax holiday which usually occurs around June 1

·    Make plans for your pets

·    Run through your emergency plan with your family

·    If you have insurance coverage, make sure it is current, and you know your policy number.

·    Make an inventory list of personal property

·    Clear your yard of debris

Over the next month, members of the GPIA team will be attending the Governor’s Hurricane Conference and the National VOAD Conference. These meetings will allow us to get the most up to date information on emergency response and preparedness and to relay the information back to you, the Pine Island community.

The GPIA LTRG map for recovery centers post disasters will be available soon. Some of these locations have GPIA Starlinks in addition to other recovery supplies.

GPIA recently hosted a meeting at our office with local island organizations and businesses. Based on our conversation at that meeting, we plan to open our office prior to and after disaster events to other partner organizations within the community to listen with us to the emergency preparedness and response calls. These calls are virtual meetings with county, state and national organizations to communicate and coordinate post storm response efforts.

Follow the link below to Lee County’s All Hazards Guide which contains great preparedness tips:

All Hazards Guide

Don’t forget to download the FREE Red Cross Emergency app to get real-time storm alerts, find open shelters, and build your hurricane plan—all from your phone. You can download it from your app store or text GETEMERGENCY to Red Cross Emergency App

Lee County also encourages you to download the free Everbridge Public Safety app which allows you to see all public notifications issued through the Everbridge system across the county, state and country.

Everbridge Public Safety App

We are all hoping for a quiet season, however, now is the time to prepare. Always remember that together we are stronger than the surge!

Erin Lollar Lambert

Executive Director

GPIA