Help Hurricane Irma Victims

I have been watching, as I am sure that you have, the flooding in Texas, the aftermath of Irma hitting the Virgin Islands, and the destruction that Irma has wrought in Florida and other coastal states. I am pretty sure that I have had the Weather channel on for weeks now, and nothing else. And that is all that I was doing - watching - feeling very sorry for those involved, but just watching.

I just watched until Irma hit the Virgin Islands. I have a very dear friend, one that I have known for 27 years, that, when I met him, had a dream (not really - more of a goal), of living in the Caribbean on a boat. He achieved his goal many years ago (decades) and has been living on a sailboat in the US Virgin Islands. When Irma came through, she hit his oasis on St. John directly and he lost everything, as did the majority of people who called St. John home.

I have never felt so absolutely powerless to help someone. What do you say to a person that has lost everything for which they have worked and dreamed? There is no magic band-aid phrase that is going to make everything okay. And not just him - all of those that lost everything.

While I cannot help my friend or his friends, I have decided to do what I can. On Monday, with the assistance of Zobird and Honah Lee Vineyards (and my neighbor that is providing me with a trailer and a hitch), I will be heading to Orlando to deliver supplies to help.

I have yet to decide if I'm crazy to do this. Perhaps. However, it is something that I feel a very personal need to do. So, now, if you have read this far, you are wondering why I am posting this on FaceBook? Because I cannot do it without my friends. I need help collecting the supplies. We have reached out to an organization in Richmond and are coordinating our efforts with theirs. We plan on departing on Monday with two trailers of supplies, but we (Zobird) need your help.

Honah Lee Vineyards has offered to act as a collection facility. If you cannot get your donation there by Saturday, please contact me directly. I will come to you. The victims of Hurricane Irma need:

a) Bottled Water (by the case)
b) Flood Buckets - 5-Gallon Buckets with leak proof lids with sponges, heavy-duty waterproof gloves, scrub brushes, permanent markers, retractable utility knife, all-purpose wide mouth spray bottle, high-impact eye-protection goggles, mold-control spray, Dawn dish detergent, leather work gloves, Mr. Clean disinfectant, trash bags, all-purpose bleach cleaner and terry towels
c) Diapers

I am asking for your help and your contribution. All financial contributions will go 100% to the victims of Irma and be used to purchase supplies. All supplies that are donated will go where they are needed.

Please help us load two trailers to help those who were caught in Irma's path. If you need any other information, please contact me.

I realize that most of you know who I am, however, per gofundme.com rules, and for total transparency:

I am Laura Thoreson from Culpeper, VA.
I am collecting funds to purchase needed supplies as stated above to take to Orlando, coordinating with Virginia NDR/Rapid Response which is already on-site.
We will be withdrawing the funds on Sunday and will not be accepting any donations after that date.  We will be in contact with them on Saturday to find out exactly what supplies they will be needing. 100% of funds collected will be used to purchase supplies for Irma victims. We will be driving the supplies personally to where they are needed. As we finalize details, I will update this site.

If you have any questions as to how the funds were purchased, we will have all receipts available for review.