Help Our Neighbors Survive the 2026 Hurricane Season

EPR CERT INC — Esplanade on Palmer Ranch Sarasota,FL, Community Emergency Response Team

Goal: $11,000 | 2026 Hurricane Season Preparedness (June 1 – November 30, 2026)

Our Story Starts With a Golf Club

A neighbor of ours was driving when he witnessed something terrifying: an elderly man lost control of his car, rolled off the road, and crashed into a tree.

Without hesitation, our neighbor smashed the car windows with his 9-iron golf club, then sprinted up a hill to flag down help. The driver survived — but our neighbor was left shaken, empty-handed, and thinking: *What if it happens again, and I'm even less prepared?*

That's where we came in. Thanks to outreach from EPR CERT INC, we were able to provide that neighbor with a window-breaking/seatbelt-cutting tool, an emergency whistle, and a mylar blanket — all of which now live permanently in his car. The next time he faces an emergency, he won't need a golf club. He'll be ready.

That's what we do. That's why your support matters so much right now.

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Who We Are.

EPR CERT INC (Esplanade on Palmer Ranch Community Emergency Response Team, Inc.) is a volunteer, neighbors-helping-neighbors 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Sarasota County, Florida.

We serve a community of 655 homes at Esplanade on Palmer Ranch, and we provide training, outreach, and mutual support to approximately 60 similar CERT organizations across Sarasota County. Our mission is straightforward: emergency education, preparation, training, storm monitoring, and disaster recovery response — neighbor to neighbor, block by block.

We are not a government agency. We don't have a budget line from the county. Every dollar we spend comes from donations from people like you.

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What's at Stake

Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30 — and in Sarasota County, that's not a hypothetical threat. It's personal history.

In 2024 alone, three separate hurricanes — Debby, Helene, and Milton — all impacted Sarasota County within a single season. Hurricane Milton made direct landfall on Siesta Key as a Category 3 storm, bringing storm surge of 6–9 feet above ground level and leaving more than 1,000 structures damaged. Hurricane Debby dropped 22” of rain in the neighborhood leaving families trapped at home for four days until emergency operations lowered the water levels. Within just 65 days, our county's Emergency Operations Center was activated three times.

Sarasota is hit by or directly brushed by a tropical system once every two years on average — and statistically, the area is already overdue for significant activity in 2026.

When the next storm comes — and it will come — the first hour matters most. Cell towers go down. Roads flood. Power fails. Government resources are stretched thin. That's when trained, equipped volunteers like ours step in to protect our neighbors.

But we can only do that if we have the right tools.

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What Your Gift Provides

Your donation directly funds the equipment we'll carry into the field during the 2026 season. Here's exactly what each giving level provides:

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$1,000 — "Hurricane Hero”

You fund a complete communications kit for one team leader.

This includes a Wouxun GMRS handheld radio, 5 USB-C batteries, and a Melowave Bandit-G GMRS antenna. When cell towers fail — and they will — this kit lets a team leader maintain contact with the neighborhood, coordinate response, and call for help. One kit. One leader. One lifeline.

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$500 — "Community Guardian"

You fund one Jackery Explorer 600+ portable power station.

This powers lights, charges radios, and keeps medical devices running during extended outages. It charges from our solar panels, which means no generator fuel to find after a storm. In a neighborhood-wide blackout, this is the light that stays on.

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$250 — "Storm Shield"

You fully equip one CERT volunteer for field deployment.

This covers 3 Florida DOT-approved traffic cones, 1 ANSI high-visibility CERT vest, 1 official CERT T-shirt, and 1 CERT cap. CERT volunteers are required to be clearly identified during emergency response. Without this gear, a trained volunteer can't safely work the scene.

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$100 — "Ready Neighbor"

You fund clean drinking water and light for one household after a disaster.

This covers one LifeStraw 5-pack (each unit filters up to 3,000 liters — enough clean water for one family for a year after a water-system failure) plus a solar/rechargeable 1,500-lumen hurricane lamp. When the tap runs dry, this is the difference between safe and sick.

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$50 — "Safety Net"

**You fund emergency trauma wound care supplies.**

This covers one pack of 6-inch Israeli bandages (the gold standard for emergency hemorrhage control) and one pack of nitrile gloves. These go directly into the hands of trained CERT volunteers responding to storm injuries. When someone is bleeding and EMS is 40 minutes out, your $50 is the first thing that helps.

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$25 — "First Responder"

You fund one pair of HexArmor NFPA-certified fire and heat-resistant gloves.

After a hurricane, our volunteers clear debris, manage downed wires, and assist with chainsaw work. These aren't regular work gloves — they're rated for flame, heat, and cut resistance. One pair protects one volunteer from serious injury during the most dangerous work of the season.

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Any amount helps. Even $10 buys emergency printing supplies so we can put preparedness guides in neighbors' hands before the storm arrives. Every dollar goes directly to equipment and readiness. The thing about severe storms is that it’s too late to obtain the preparedness supplies once the storm is approaching.

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How the $11,000 Is Allocated

**Communications**

Commander radio, base antenna, 4 handheld radios, 8 antennas, 20 batteries | $1,550 |

**Power**

2 Jackery 600+ power stations + 6 portable solar panels | $3,040 |

**First Aid & Water**

Trauma kit (50 people), Israeli bandages, LifeStraw 5-packs, nitrile gloves | $1,875 |

**Safety & Signage**

Traffic cones, DOT/NHTSA road signs, LED batons, HexArmor gloves, hurricane lamps | $4,035 |

**Identification**

CERT vests, T-shirts, and caps for 30–50 field volunteers | $1,470 |

**Education**

Color toner + premium paper for preparedness guides | $589 |

**Total GoFundMe Goal**

**$11,000**

Our full 2026 budget is $13,209. This GoFundMe covers the critical gap between what we can self-fund and what we need to be fully operational on June 1.

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A Personal Note From Our Team

We keep thinking about that neighbor and his 9-iron.

He didn't hesitate. He ran toward the danger, broke the glass, and sprinted for help — because that's what neighbors do. We were proud to give him better tools afterward. But what he showed us is that preparedness isn't a bureaucratic concept — it's what ordinary people do in extraordinary moments.

Our team of trained volunteers is ready to be that for 655 households and, through our county network, for thousands more. We've seen what hurricanes do to Sarasota County. We know that 2024 wasn't a fluke — it was a preview.

Hurricane season opens June 1, 2026. We have one more month to get ready. With your help, we will be.

Thank you for being part of this community, even if you've never set foot in our neighborhood. People who help strangers in parking lots, neighborhoods that look out for each other, volunteers who show up after a storm — that's who we're building this for.

With deep gratitude,

The EPR CERT INC Volunteer Team

Esplanade on Palmer Ranch, Sarasota County, Florida

Michael A. Nepi

President and Incident Commander

EPR CERT INC

Sarasota, FL

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Tax-Deductible Giving

EPR CERT INC is a Florida not-for-profit corporation organized and operated as a tax-exempt charitable organization under IRS Section 501(c)(3).

Contributions to EPR CERT INC may be tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Please consult your tax advisor regarding deductibility.

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Can't Give? Please Share.

If donating isn't possible right now, please share this page — with your neighbors, your social networks, your HOA group chat, your church, your office.

Every share reaches someone who might never have heard of us. Every new person who reads this page is one step closer to our goal. Sharing costs nothing and could mean everything for families in Sarasota County the next time a storm rolls in from the Gulf.

Thank you. From all of us — and from that neighbor who now keeps his car a little better stocked than before.