'GMA' is 'Florida Strong': How to help communities impacted by Hurricane Milton
Hurricane Milton lashed Florida on Oct. 9 after making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with winds up to 120 mph near Siesta Key.
The major storm brought heavy rainfall, up to a foot in the Tampa area, triggered at least 36 tornadoes and claimed at least 23 lives.
As Floridians come together to pick up the pieces amid extensive flooding, debris pileup, tornado damage and more, various charities and nonprofits are helping raise funds and accepting donations to support rescue and relief efforts.
On Thursday, "GMA" revisited Tampa to help shine some rays of hope to the Sunshine State as students returned to school for the first time since Milton devastated the region.
Below are organizations to support that are directly responding to communities impacted by Hurricane Milton, as well as links for more information.
- The Bullard Family Foundation
- Metropolitan Ministries
- Rebuilding Together
- Mercy Chefs
- Global Empowerment Mission
- Team Rubicon
- Feeding America
- Samaritan's Purse
- Red Cross
The Bullard Family Foundation
The Bullard Family Foundation's mission is to provide families and children with programs and resources to improve outcomes in the Tampa Bay area and beyond. The organization serves many children living in poverty in the state of Florida. Click here to learn more.
Metropolitan Ministries
Metropolitan Ministries is a nonprofit organization focused on helping the homeless and those in need in the Tampa Bay area. Since the devastation after Helene and Milton, the group has been providing resources to communities affected across the area, including delivering hot meals and bagged lunches to 41 partner locations as part of their Hunger Relief Network. Click here to learn more.
Tim Marks, president and CEO of the nonprofit, told "GMA" that right now, "It's all about hope and bringing hope to people in crisis. You can't turn your back on any of them who are struggling."
Marks accepted a $50,000 donation from Abbott on Thursday while helping on the ground with Mercy Chefs at Thaddeus M Bullard Academy in Tampa.
The school's principal Angela Brown told "GMA" that "today, seeing their faces, hope has been restored," as she accepted a $10K donation from Carnival, plus another $10K from Save A Lot, to go towards helping their students bounce back from the devastating storms.
Rebuilding Together
Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay provides critical support to communities impacted by hurricanes and other natural disasters. The group's mission is to provide safe and affordable homes after natural disasters and works long term to meet the repair needs of Floridians on fixed incomes. Click here to learn more.
Mercy Chefs
Mercy Chefs is providing thousands of hot meals in Florida and North Carolina. Click here to learn more.
The founder, Gary Leblanc, was alongside the educators and Metropolitan Ministries teams with "GMA" on Thursday and said his team "serve people a meal on what might be the very worst day of their life," which he added, is "an honor to go in and remind people they haven't been forgotten."
Mercy Chefs received a $10,000 donation plus 80,000 bottles of water from Crystal Geyser to help continue their work providing meals to the people of Florida.
Global Empowerment Mission
Following Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit focused on solving humanitarian challenges, is distributing aid, including food, water, hygiene supplies, cleaning materials, tarps and pet supplies in North Carolina and Florida. Click here to learn more.
Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian group, responded to the hurricane disasters across the Southeast. Teams have been on the ground since the storm passed and cleared roads for first responders and survivors, according to the group, ahead of a full-scale operation across the west coast of Florida. Click here to learn more.
Art Delacruz, CEO of the veteran-led humanitarian organization, told "GMA" on Thursday, "We have volunteers spread across three counties and we're helping people recover by gutting, mucking and gutting their homes to get all the wet materials out, tarpping roofs and removing debris -- all because of our incredible volunteers."
Delacruz accepted a $200K donation from Merck and said "the reality is collectively, we sprinted into this marathon and that $200,000 is going to help us put families back in homes and give them hope for tomorrow. And we couldn't be more grateful for that."
With 10 bases of teams spread across multiple states, Delacruz urged others to sign up to volunteer or support their cause online.
Feeding America
Feeding America is working with partners on the ground in impacted states including Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas to support Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton recovery. The organization works with food banks and food pantries to combat hunger in America all year round and activates after disasters to support communities in need as well. Click here to learn more.
"We got hit hard. Those were two really big storms and our most vulnerable population usually experiences storms at much greater impact. We make sure we get fresh, healthy, nutritious food and prepared meals on the table for folks that need it," Thomas Mantz, President and CEO of Feeding Tampa Bay told "GMA."
After being presented with a $300K donation from Abbott, Matz said, "Things are made better when communities heal each other and look after each other -- this is an incredible donation that will make sure the families in our community have the meals they need."
To date, he said their organization has already donated 400,000 meals per day out in the community, which he said "shows how great the need is and how impactful the storm was."
Samaritan's Purse
A Christian charity, Samaritan's Purse is raising money and sending volunteers, staff and equipment to distribute emergency aid to hurricane victims. Click here to learn more.
Red Cross
Help people affected by Hurricane Milton. Your donation enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster. Click here to learn more.
The Walt Disney Company, ABC News' parent company, provides annual support to the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program, which allows organizations like the American Red Cross to immediately activate and provide much-needed assistance to hard-hit areas in the U.S.
Editor's Note: This story was originally published on October 10, 2024 and has since been updated.
