Better Together organization helping Suncoast Estates community

Reporter: Lindsey Sablan Writer: Paul Dolan
Published:
Better Together helping a community in need in North Fort Myers. (CREDIT: WINK News)

Hand-delivering supplies to families in need because when you don’t have a car or gas, a distribution site doesn’t cut it.

In Southwest Florida packs of water bottles getting loaded off trucks is now commonplace.

But, what’s different is strangers and volunteers walking the streets to essentially take orders and then bring the supplies to the door.

Susan Thomas lives with her daughter Brine, 6, and son Camden, 8, in Estero. For the first time, she was visiting Suncoast Estates in North Fort Myers, an area more inland.

Thomas is one of the hundreds of volunteers coming out to support Better Together, a non-profit organization. Their goal on Tuesday was to knock on 4,000 doors in an under-served community.

“We have diapers, trash bags, apples,” Thomas said.

It wasn’t too difficult finding people in need, given the circumstances left behind by Hurricane Ian. When they did they went back to the truck and handed off the supplies right there.

Jaime Frazzini lives in Suncoast Estates and was given some important items to help during this time.

“Some trash bags, bleach, and some crackers for the boys,” Frazzini said.

Frazzini rode out the storm in her garage. Part of the reason she didn’t leave was because of her pet pig.

“It means a lot, it means that people actually care,” Frazzini said. “Because we don’t get that a lot out here, people think of Suncoast as a bad place and it’s really not, you have a lot of people who care.”

Just taking one look at the church parking lot, which became a supply hub, it’s evident people do care. And those people that care expand beyond Southwest Florida.

“All of these donations right here came from a Tampa donor,” Megan Rose said. “They went shopping yesterday, they were hands-on and then they packed up a U-haul and then they woke up super earlier this morning and drove everything down.”

But, thanks to the anonymous Tampa donor the Better Together organization and good-hearted families have some of the supplies they needed. And those trucks will not stop after Tuesday.

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