FMB Strong still making a difference 2 years later

In the days and weeks following Hurricane Ian, donations flowed into Fort Myers Beach.

The group FMB Strong took on the task of organizing and distributing to people who live on or near Fort Myers Beach.

Wink news anchor Russ McCaskey recently stopped by to see how the group is still working to make a difference two years later.

“People are still struggling, believe it or not.”

Walk into the FMB strong store and you will see a place providing food and supplies to people in need, but talk to the people here and you will find it does so much more.

Patti Benson calls it a lifesaver.

“This place saved my life. It really did,” said Benson.

FMB Strong sprang up in the days after Hurricane Ian to help all the people who had just lost their homes.

Heidi Junwirth runs the place and she understands the needs of people here because she too lost nearly everything in the storm.

“Everyone who’s worked here, or pretty much volunteered here, they’re survivors, helping survivors,” said Junwirth. “They’ve all, everyone that’s here, lost their homes. Most of them lost their homes, their vehicles, all their possessions. So we understand when they come through the door, what they’re going through and what they need.”

“So the water was about right here,” said Benson.

Patti Benson was one of those who lost everything in the storm. The mud, muck and smell were too much to handle.

“The smell smelled like someone’s septic about 10 times over. It was horrible,” said Benson.

Patti’s home was wrecked, and to make matters worse, she fell heading out the backdoor of her home and broke her leg.

With her foot in a boot, she was walking to a friend’s house, and that’s when she met Junwirth.

“‘Well,’ she said, ‘Why don’t you come in and cool off’– I’m going to try not to cry– so she said, ‘Why don’t you come on and check us out?’ So I did, and she said, ‘You can get whatever you need in here.'”

Junwirth and FMB Strong were just what Benson needed. Patti eventually would become a volunteer and then a worker at FMB Strong.

She is also a hugger.

“I try to hug everybody, and I’ve had people come and say, ‘You know what that hug is? That kept me from going to jail’ or ‘That hug kept me from putting a gun to my head’ … They didn’t want to be here anymore. He’s one of my success stories now,” said Benson.

FMB Strong has been recognized and won awards for all the work done in the community, but it’s seeing how they make a difference in people’s lives that gets them out of bed in the morning.

“It’s what keeps me coming in here, you know, because I help people. They need food stamps. I help them get on food stamps or social security, or whatever it is,” said Benson. “When they walk in that door and I say, ‘Hey, I need to try to help them.'”

FMB Strong struck a two-year deal with the Red Cross this past summer to become a cooling station.