Hurricane Relief

As many of you know, Florida has suffered immense damage due to Hurricane Ian. What you may not know is that Fort Myers, Florida was one of the areas in the hurricane’s path of destruction and that this is where my family calls home. While many residents chose to evacuate, there were many others who couldn’t evacuate in time or chose to stay in their homes that were built to withstand the potential damage of a hurricane. My family chose to stay, with the hope that their home would indeed remain safe, with minimal damage. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

If you don't know me, I'm Monica Mikolajczyk, and I am starting this Gofundme on behalf of my sister, Lara, her husband Justin and their two children, Paxton (age 4), Asher (age 1), and their pup, Juno. If any of you know my sister personally you know that not only does she plan ahead, but she is always the most prepared person in any situation. However, we only have so much control when it comes to natural disasters, and we are truly at the mercy of nature in situations such as this.

On Wednesday, September 28th, Hurricane Ian struck Fort Myers as a Category 4 hurricane, and many are calling this the worst in Florida’s history. The storm surge in this area was 12-18 feet, flooding many neighborhoods and wiping out Fort Myers Beach, The Sanibel Causeway, Sanibel Island, and many other homes and areas. My family, the Milson family (Lara, Justin, Paxton, Asher, and Juno), were some of the people that experienced immense damage to their home because of the hurricane.

They were forced to evacuate their home by boat around 10 pm on the 28th due to flooding in their home. My brother-in-law was able to bail gallons of water out of his fishing boat, safely load up the family, and literally boat through the neighborhood to my parent's home (which, luckily, had no flooding inside). I have lost sleep thinking about my family inside of their home, watching water seep through cracks under doorways (plugged with towels) and enter the home, and I can’t imagine the trauma it has caused the many Floridians who lived through this nightmare. The worst of it all was not knowing when, or if, the water would stop. How long do you sit on your counter with your family before you decide to take action?

As I listened to my mom tell the story about the Milson family pulling up in their boat (to my parents’ front patio because the neighborhood was terribly flooded), with my sister and the boys hunkered down on the floor of the boat, is like some horrific scene from a disaster or end-of-days film. While we are all very grateful that everyone is safe and no one has been hurt, assessing the damage and thinking about what the next steps will be has been very difficult for my family, and many others who have experienced loss or damage because of this storm.

The Milson family’s home flooded, and because of this, their furniture throughout the home (bedrooms, kitchen, living room) will need to be replaced, as well as the boys’ toys, bedroom furniture, and all flooring in the home, everything in their shed and garage was damaged, and parts of their roof will need to be replaced. There may be more structural and foundational damage to their home as well, which is yet to be assessed.

This Gofundme is to help them purchase what they may need until they are able to begin to rebuild. This may be meals, items for the boys, clothing, household items, etc. My sister wanted to be very clear that these donations will also be shared with the community, anyone who may be in need or has experienced loss, as there are so many others struggling at this time.

This has certainly been a wake-up call at how quickly things can change, how little control we really do have, and how, in these situations, we truly rely on the help of others. This is a way that all of us, those who are safe and aren’t currently picking up the pieces left after the storm, can lend a helping hand. Let’s stand with our neighbors in Florida and help them to rebuild.