Now that Hurricane Ian has passed through Florida, the cleanup begins.

Several North Florida organizations are looking to lend a helping hand to the victims of the Category 4 storm in South Florida by collecting supplies. Among those gathering items to help those residents in the path of the storm are Christ Central Church, the FFA chapters in Columbia County, the Kiwanis clubs in Lake City and Live Oak, the Rotary clubs in Lake City and Live Oak and the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office in partnership with Busy Bee.

The Christ Central church is collecting supplies to send to many different areas to help those affected by the storm during this difficult time.

Donations can be dropped off at the chuck, 217 SW Dyal Avenue in Lake City, at the south foyer carport; or in the main foyer on Sunday.

Among the items the church is gathering include:

Christ Central is also accepting financial donations for the hurricane victims. Those donations can be made at https://destinyfellowshipofchurches.churchcenter.com/giving/to/hurricane-ian-relief?fbclid=IwAR0berQuFXyW68bLWrKixG_q3Oz3IwOSsK_ElGmsybNdPz3OPMCGDshMOL0.

Patricia Starnes, the CHS Senior Chapter advisor, said the FFA groups are collecting the basic items, including:

People wishing to donate may bring items to CHS (469 SW Fighting Tiger Dr.), Fort White High School (17828 SW State Road 47), Lake City Middle School (843 SW Arlington Blvd.) or Richardson Sixth Grade Academy (646 SE Pennsylvania St.) and direct the items to the FFA advisors at those schools.

She said the items will be headed south on Wednesday.

“We have done this many times,” Starnes said of collecting supplies for disaster victims, noting the groups organized a similar drive last year for tornado victims in Kentucky.

The six clubs in District 4 of Kiwanis, including Lake City and Live Oak, will be gathering supplies all of next week to send to Fort Myers next weekend.

The Kiwanis will be gathering:

Monja Slater, the Lake City Reporter’s business development manager and a Kiwanis Club of Live Oak member who has served three terms as Lt. Governor for the district, said anyone that wishes to donate may contact her at 386-249-9432 or mslater@lakecityreporter.com.

The Lake City Reporter, 180 E. Duval St. in Lake City, and the JW Hill & Associates office, 6212 U.S. Highway 129 North in Live Oak, are serving as drop-off locations.

The local Rotary Clubs and their district partners are working on collecting hygiene buckets and “flood” buckets for those impacted by the hurricane.

John Wheeler with the Rotary Club of Lake City said those wishing to donate items may get 5-gallon buckets from stores such as Lowe’s or Home Depot and then fill them with the necessary items, whether it be hygiene items to help people clean themselves or "flood" items to help clean one’s house.

“Imagine what their home will look like after the storm goes through,” Wheeler said. “They’ll have to pull out their carpet and cut out the drywall and then they’ll have to clean up after that.

“We want to send items to help them clean up, whether it’s cleaning up their house or cleaning up their person.”

Wheeler said the items gathered by Rotary will be sent out Wednesday so donations need to be dropped off by Tuesday afternoon. Drop-off locations in Lake City include The Wheeler Agency, 622 SW Main Blvd., or the Lake City Reporter, 180 E. Duval St.

For the Rotary Club of Live Oak, people are asked to call Joshua Bagley with Jab Media at 386-365-9405 to coordinate pickup.

Among the items desired for the flood buckets are:

For the hygiene buckets, Rotary is looking for:

To assemble the hygiene buckets, people should lay the towel flat on a table; lay the washcloth in the center of the hand towel; place all remaining items on top of the washclotch except for the plastic bag; fold the sides of the hand towel to cover the items; grasp the bundle tightly and roll over the remainder of the towel; place the tightly rolled bundle in the plastic bag, remove air and seal; fill a five-gallon bucket with the kits.

The Rotary Club of Lake City - Downtown is expected to participate in a disaster relief supply drive as well.

Busy Bee and the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office are teaming together to help victims of Ian.

On Wednesday, representatives from both the SCSO and Busy Bee will head south to feed 2,000 people impacted. Sheriff Sam St. John said they will be serving pre-made sandwiches and hot dogs to individuals in need, whether it be volunteers helping with disaster relief or victims of the storm themselves.

“We just want to show our support,” St. John said. “It won’t be much but it will help some.”

Additionally, the sheriff’s office and Busy Bee are collecting donations to take with them for those in need. Donations may be dropped off at people’s local Busy Bee. Items being collected at Busy Bee, include:

Donations will be accepted through Tuesday.

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1709 Lake City, FL  32056

Phone: 386-752-1293 Fax: 386-752-9400

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