Travis Hopson his Fiancé Malia, and her family

Hello, my name is Colby Culbertson (from Lincoln, California) and I’ve created this gofundme for my cousin Travis Hopson and his Fiancé Malia Samson who have been devastated by Hurricane Ian a category 4 hurricane on Sanibel, Florida. All funds from this fundraiser will go directly to Travis and Malia.

Travis has been living on Sanibel for the last 4 years with his fiancé Malia and her parents Kathy and Jeff Samson. Travis is a Golf Professional at The Dunes Golf and Tennis Club located on Sanibel that is currently closed due to the effects of the hurricane. Malia and her father Jeff own a restaurant Spoondrift Island Bowls that has been deemed a total loss. For the past 2 weeks they have been going from hotels, my aunts home in Tampa, and now the Samson’s family friends home in Naples.

The storm surge on Sanibel reached up to 15 feet on the island with water sitting at 5 1/2 feet in there bottom level (where most of all of Travis items were kept). Water entered the 3rd level of the house through the hurricane-rated windows and sliders where it has warped the floors and water was sitting in the ceiling of the 2nd level. The winds from the hurricane reached 150 miles per hour ripping away the soffit so water can seep in through those new entry points.

They have been working for the past two weeks 8 hours on the island making the 2 hour drive to Sanibel,  a 45 minute boat ride to the island (the causeway has been destroyed and only accessible by boats), and the 3-4 hour drive back to Tampa due to traffic. They are now located an hour closer to the island but the demands of the work on the island are still there. The only way to get around the island unless you were lucky enough to have a car survive the floods is to ride a bike or walking. Thankfully Sanibel is known for bike riding and if your lucky you just may find a Billy’s Bike on the side of the road to use.

The plaza where Spoondrift is located has just informed us they will be doing a total teardown in the future and rebuild with a date that has not been determined yet. Spoondrift is a multi-award-winning restaurant that is deeply intertwined with the community of Sanibel. The damage to the island is unbelievable. They are thinking it will be close to two years until their restaurant is back up and running. This is just a long run of tragic events that have impacted them. Hurricane Irma in 2017 (Cat 5), Red Tide in 2019, Covid 2020-current, and now Ian.

My heart goes out to my family and everybody who has been impacted by this tragic event.

Thank you again to everyone who has donated, volunteered, and lended a boat ride and hand to the community of Sanibel.