The Greater Pine Island Alliance is seeking volunteers to help recovery efforts

Author: Paul Dolan Writer: Bryanna Sterzenbach
Published: Updated:

The Greater Pine Island Alliance is looking for volunteers, and age or skill set does not matter; if you want to help, they have a job for you.

WINK News reporter Paul Dolan spoke to them about how Pine Island’s recovery will help the rest of the southwest Florida community.

Splintered walls and flooded homes are fairly common across Pine Island after Hurricane Helene.

That’s why the Greater Pine Island Alliance urges you to volunteer to help with recovery efforts. The faster the area bounces back, the better for everyone.

Erin Lollar-Lambert, the Alliance’s Executive Director, said, “The tourism base really impacts all of Southwest Florida because Matlacha Pine Island brings so many tourists who contribute to our overall economic safety.”

They need help removing damaged furniture from a home, replacing drywall or answering a call. We want to restore the island’s hospitality and beauty—for everyone.

Pine Island is integral to Lee County and the surrounding area to access some of those other islands that are only accessible by boat.

So, by helping Pine Island recover, you boost the entire Lee County community and bring everyone closer together.

Aaron Barreda, the Alliance’s co-founder, summarizes the importance of volunteering, saying, “After Ian, the waterways have been devastated, and to have just trash and things that could with more rain or things coming could potentially end up in the waterways, that just also devastates the environment around us…Helping the island helps the people, it helps the waterways, it helps the community, helps everybody around us.”

Making southwest Florida stronger.

If you’re interested in volunteering with the Greater Pine Island Alliance, visit their website here.

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