Originally from the south suburbs of Chicago, the Southard’s moved to Cape Coral in 1997. Over the years, they made it through hurricanes Charlie and Irma mostly unscathed. Mark and Dana Southard have lived in their house for 25 years, and it has seen them through kids, grandkids, storms, and loss. Dana lost her husband of almost 43 years on her 66th birthday this past July.

Dana rode out Hurricane Ian with her daughter, a big Kind Cotton supporter and customer, Jennifer. Hurricane Ian caused flooding in the Southard’s neighborhood. Dana experienced water gushing in the house leaving many things destroyed. Unfortunately, Dana doesn’t have flood insurance and is now out of work. The business she worked at on Fort Myers Beach is destroyed. Both of Dana’s daughters are teachers and will be helping as much as possible, along with her son. It’s going to be a big job, though.

That's why we wanted to step in and help out one of our own. We met Dana's daughter, Jennifer at a teacher conference in Miami over three years ago and she has been an avid supporter of Kind Cotton ever since. She, alone, has put dozens of books into the hands of kids, and now we want to help in any way we can!