Local

St. Johns County family asks for community's help with Hurricane Florence donations

The Communities helping Communities organization out of St. Johns County has organized a fundraiser to collect items for the victims of Hurricane Florence.

“Some people have been left with nothing,” Angela Ashton said. “Some people have lost their lives and this is how we as a community give back to them.”

They are asking for basic items people may need, such as water, toothbrushes, baby diapers, canned food and cleaning supplies.

The organization was started by a family in St. Augustine. They donated truckloads of items to victims of hurricanes Irma and Harvey.

“It just takes one person to change someone else’s life,” Ashton said. “One random act of kindness can make such a difference in someone else. So these people are in desperate need right now, these people affected by the hurricane.”

Ashton said her family is motivated to help after they were shown kindness during a tragedy of their own.

“When I was younger my mom’s house burned down in about seven minutes,” Ashton said. “My sister was 15 and my other sister was a baby. When it burned down, we had so many people show up and give. Even if they had nothing, they just gave to make sure we did have something. And it stuck with us all this time. It really stuck with us.”

Ashton said they will be driving the donations to the Carolinas as soon as the area is safe to travel to.

You can donate at several locations: Cato St. Augustine, SJCFR Fire Station 5, Collis Roofing, and A to Z Roofing and Waterproofing.