Mia & Family: Hurricane Ian Disaster Fund

Hello all! We have started this Hurricane Ian Disaster fund for Mia and her family. While some of you may know her personally and have heard her story, others of you may now just be hearing of it. So, we would like to thank you first and foremost for taking the time to listen and for the outpouring of support during this time.

Mia and her three children were impacted heavily when Hurricane Ian hit the Ft. Myers area. While they were lucky enough to evacuate and make it out alive, they lost everything--they could only leave with a pair of shoes on their feet and a few essentials. Although their physical house is still standing, the extensive damage from the flooding and sewage destroyed all of their belongings (home school supplies, clothing and other essentials, sentimental items, etc.).

For those of you who know Mia personally, you all know she is a FIGHTER, and she WILL rebuild from this--she puts her family first and will always do everything she can. However, this is still a very challenging time for her and her family, so any support you may be able to provide to help give her some relief is greatly appreciated. Even if it's just a share of her story, that means the world to us. All proceeds will be donated directly to Mia and her family to help them recover from this disaster and regain normalcy in their lives.

To leave off, we would like to thank everyone again and share some of Mia's words:

"Never in a million years would I have thought... I’ve probably said those exact words hundreds of times this past year because so many events have absolutely rocked me to my very core. But nothing quite as horrific as leaving my home with my 3 little boys to “let the hurricane pass” only to come back to absolutely nothing. Every photo of my boys, every piece of furniture, documents, laptops, clothing, shoes. Gone. If ever there was a moment to remind me that material possessions are not to be to highly treasured, this would be it.

To think I considered staying put with my kids truly makes me sick. We had neighbors waiting in their attics for rescue within the first hours of the storm. I can’t even imagine the trauma they’ll have to live with from those memories. But they all made it. And so will we. When tragedy strikes, we often hear people say “we lost everything but at least we’re alive”. These are not just words. The fact that we are still here and that everyone we know personally is accounted for… I am beyond grateful. We will rebuild and it will take time but I get to do it with my three little ones by my side. Thank you to everyone who has kept us in your prayers, for the countless messages that have been sent our way and for the friends who have shown up in different ways to help us carry this heavy load. I appreciate every single one of you. Stay strong Florida. "