Help the Local Relief App Transform Disaster Recovery

Heather Hackett is organizing this fundraiser to benefit Local Relief Inc.

Tax deductible

I’m Heather Hackett from Sarasota, Florida and I'm raising funds for everyone struggling through a disaster or may have to recover from one in the future.

Disasters are chaotic, they’re unorganized, and until you’re in one, you have NO idea what to do, who to turn to, where to find information, or what social platform to go for assistance. You piece information together in the absolute worst and most inefficient way imaginable. You’ve never been more stressed. You’ve never been more confused. You’ve never been so lost.

You’re not thinking clearly. You’re overwhelmed, and you just want to know what you need to do, where you need to go, and who you need to speak with to get your life back to “normal” as soon as possible.

You assume with the abundance of social media platforms, you can find relevant information at your fingertips, but that's not the case. In fact, with the abundance of mainstream social platforms, it's tougher than ever to find relevant, local information as you don't know which person is sharing information on which platform. I live in Sarasota, Florida and witnessed firsthand with Hurricane Irma in 2017 just how disconnected everyone really was and that something had to change.

With a background in sporting event management, I knew chaos was typically caused by lack of communication, information and resources, so, I thought, “If Irma was MY event, how would I organize it?”

I started brainstorming and creating structure to what this communication platform would look like. After researching and analyzing disasters, my platform evolved into three components.

The first component was the static information that doesn’t change. (i.e. disaster preparation info and advice for your family, your pets, and your home, etc.)
The second component includes links to resources people either don’t know exist, or they don’t know they need it until they’re impacted. This information includes federal, state, long-term recovery groups, housing authorities, and nonprofit organizations that provide disaster assistance.
The final component could very well be the most important. It’s the social media platform. This is the designated space where people can find their city or county and post the critical information nearly impossible to find as it’s in constant motion. (i.e. finding tarps, gas, supply and food distribution locations, collection sites, Red Cross assistance, etc.)

In 2017, I was a single entrepreneur and knew nothing about apps, but in 2018 a man reached out to me to write content for an app he was creating, so I started to learn the app space.

Fast forward to Hurricane Ian in 2022, that man was now my husband and we were both in the app space. At this point, I assumed I missed my chance with Local Relief, to my surprise, there was nothing comparable.

After Ian, I went into volunteer mode and collected over $40,000 in supplies to take for Pine Island, Florida. I then began volunteering and again, being the conduit to connect the people in need to the people that can help. It was at this time where my husband saw my passion and love. I had also thought I missed my chance with Local Relief and assumed someone else had created something similar. To my surprise, there was nothing comparable.

As I now looked at disaster communication with a possible solution in mind, I knew I HAD to do it. We needed a dedicated social platform, we needed Local Relief. After many conversations with my husband (Ken), we both knew there was no turning back as I had truly discovered what I was put on this earth to do.

Local Relief, Inc. is now a full 501c3 nonprofit, and the Local Relief app is LIVE and provides a safe place for locals, nonprofits, and authorities to discover all the resources and information necessary to recover in one place. One app with information, recovery resources, and most of all a COMMUNITY of neighbors in the same situation, providing assistance, guidance, and wanting nothing more than to recover and rebuild their community, YOUR community.

In addition to being a 501c3 nonprofit, Local Relief, Inc. will not sell or share personal information or data of its community members. Disaster victims have gone through enough. The only people with access to the app are the developers and those associated with Local Relief, Inc..

If there's one thing I've learned about disasters, it really showcases the best of humanity. At the end of the day, when sh*t hits the fan...it was, is, and will always be neighbors helping neighbors. Local Relief is YOUR platform, it's YOUR community.

I'm Heather Hackett, the Founder and Executive Director of Local Relief. Today, I'm asking for your help. My husband and I have funded this incredible app ourselves, but we've taken it as far as we can on our own.

We need help to bring this remarkable app to the areas that desperately need it, but we'll need your assistance to get there.

How will $165K be used?

This $165K will be a great start and get us off the ground and begin helping disaster communities through fires, tornadoes, and possibly hurricane season.

1. Raising Awareness - $80K

Our biggest struggle is raising awareness and letting people know we exist. The Local Relief app is a resource that has never existed until now. We’re charting our own path and it’s a challenge.

Therefore, we’ll need to spend money on:

Our press launch - $10K

Media and ad spend (Google and Social Media) - $30K

Promotional materials (i.e. flyers, stickers, posters, car wraps) for community members, nonprofit organizations, government entities, and businesses. - $25K

Travel Expenses - $15K

2. Technology - $30K

Local Relief is a FREE service for anyone wanting to find information. Whether you’re an individual looking for assistance, a nonprofit organization with boots on the ground, or a government entity looking to enhance communication efforts in their community, Local Relief is FREE to use. In order for us to remain that way, we need to cover our expenses through donations and partnerships.

Our server and monthly fees increase with downloads, so the more downloads we have, the more our expenses increase. Without funding, we can’t afford the downloads and without downloads, we can’t raise awareness for funding or grants.

3. Staffing - $45K

We’d like to hire an IT Director to assist in managing the content and an Operations Manager to assist with daily operations.

4. Operating Expenses $10K

- Legal fees, insurance costs, and general operating costs.

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