- February 7, 2025
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Hurricane Irma may have brought destruction to many of the cities and towns in its path, but it has also brought many community members together in order to help those affected by the storm.
In Port Orange, volunteers from Foundation 37, a community-based nonprofit, have been working supply people with food, clothes and house items they lost during the hurricane.
The organization utilized the city’s Lakeside Community Center as a base to give these essential items to residents in and around Port Orange.
The center was also used as a shelter for first responders and their families during the hurricane as well as a place to feed first responders after Irma had passed.
Foundation 37 President and Co-Founder Maria Mills-Benat said the organization has also rallied to help residents last year when Hurricane Matthew hit.
This year, volunteers were able to use donations from Tomoka Brewing Co. as well as food city employees had given them to hand out to people in need. The nonprofit’s volunteers also went to BJ’s Wholesale to get items, such as cleaning supplies, for citizens to use at their homes.
Mills-Benat said they had requests for help from people whose homes had been flooded in addition to those who had lost food.
According to Mills-Benat, they have also been working to help a single father with two children, one with cerebral palsy, whose house was flooded.
“Their beds were floating in the water,” Mills-Benat said. “We bought them new beds, bedding, comforters, legos.”
The foundation has also been helping another family in the area replace items lost during the storm.
“Their beds were floating in the water,” Maria Mills-Benat, Foundation 37 president and co-founder
Mills-Benat said they have currently been helping around seven or eight families by providing them with needs such as food, diapers and clothes.
Saved up money from donations and fundraisers has enabled the foundation to purchase these items for the families.
“We have money we put aside for emergencies like this,” Mills-Benat said, adding it seemed as if there was a greater need this year than after Hurricane Matthew.
As for why she and and the other people at Foundation 37 do this kind of volunteering, Mills-Benat said it’s about meeting those needs that haven’t yet been met.
“It’s just something we’re very passionate about,” Mills-Benat said. “We like to say we give a hand up not handout.”
For more information on Foundation 37, visit foundation37.org.
