Kim and Laura Hawk rebuild post Ian
Donation protected
These are my good friends Laura and Kim Hawk. They live in North Fort Myers and lost everything in hurricane Ian but their 2 cats and each other. Laura is a teacher of hearing-impaired kids and speech pathologist. Kim is a retired aviation and automotive mechanic that has dedicated the last 10 years to building their now-destroyed dream cottage. You may wonder why this request is so long after Ian? That is because Hawk & Laura did not want to burden others with their problems. Instead, they demonstrated humility and perseverance, putting their heads down and getting to work without letting many of their friends know! I lived through cleaning up and rebuilding our family home in Marathon after Irma and can testify to how devastating it can be. Please read their story below and consider helping Kim and Laura rebuild.
Kim Hawk:
“On the morning of September 28, we had more than we dreamed. By that afternoon, huddled in the attic of a neighbor’s house, all we had were the wet clothes we were wearing, a backpack, and two frightened cats. Decades of careful planning and focused efforts were washed away in one hour when Ian's nine-foot surge roared over our seawall. We survived jumping from our porch into seven feet of angry, black, stinking, oily seawater.
We had just declared our 75-year-old wood frame cottage finished in August, Brandon and his kids came down and we had a great party with all the grandkids and their cousins. That is now a precious memory. Eleven days after that, our cottage, our cars, boat, and dock were all destroyed. Everything in the cottage was flushed out and mingled with all the debris everywhere. The next morning it looked like the apocalypse. Only Laura's car was insured. Our garage, which I built like a bomb shelter, still stands with damaged doors from the five feet of water plowing through it. I am still in the process of sorting damaged tools and hardware and just received new panels to repair the big door. Also still clearing broken trees and pulling trash out of our pond and creek on our one acre of Florida jungle.
We are doing well, living in a nice camper next to our broken home. I bought a nice old Chevy truck and Laura bought a new Mazda 3. Laura was going to retire in May but is talking about waiting. We'll see. For now, we are waiting for the real estate market to stabilize and the local construction industry to catch up before we make our decision to rebuild. We still have enough if we keep it modest but without the padding, we would have enjoyed pre-Ian.
More than anything, this hurricane helped define the difference between wants and needs... Before Ian, we had everything we wanted. After Ian, we have everything we need.”
Please go to the following link for more information and details about Laura and Kim’s story.
Organizer
Cheryl Mcphillips
Organizer
Merritt Island, FL