At the end of last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis announced more than $1.6 million in awards through the Florida Disaster Fund to support Florida families recovering from Hurricane Idalia.
The Florida Disaster Fund has raised over $3.7 million to date, for Hurricane Idalia relief. The awards will support teachers in Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Suwannee, and Taylor Counties; volunteer organizations that are actively participating in response efforts and local community churches. The governor made the announcement while attending one of the first Friday night football games in the area following Hurricane Idalia, between Chiefland Middle-High School and Suwannee High School.
“The Florida Disaster Fund allows us to cut through red tape and get funds into the hands of these organizations quickly,” said DeSantis. “Our teachers, volunteer organizations, and churches have done a great job helping the community recover, and I am glad we can support them with these awards.”
“The Florida Disaster Fund helps us go beyond government to help with hurricane recovery,” said First Lady DeSantis. “Through today’s awards, we are supporting whole communities in getting back on their feet, back to work and back to a sense of normalcy. We will continue to award these funds to support the rebuilding of impacted communities and I encourage anyone looking for a way to help, to donate to the Florida Disaster Fund.”
Awards are as follows:
$700,000 was awarded to seven education foundations to support impacted teachers.
$100,000 to Dixie Education Foundation, Inc.
$100,000 to Hamilton County Public Schools Foundation
$100,000 to Lafayette Penny Foundation
$100,000 to Levy County Schools Foundation
$100,000 to Madison County Foundation for Excellence in Education
$100,000 to Suwannee Education Foundation
$100,000 to Taylor County Education Foundation
$700,000 was awarded to support charitable organizations assisting in disaster response efforts including:
Adventist Community Services
Cajun Navy Ground Force
Catholic Charities
Convoy of Hope
Feeding Florida
Florida Baptist Convention Disaster Relief
Florida State Animal Response Coalition
Mercy Chefs
Operation BBQ Relief
Salvation Army
Second Harvest of the Big Bend
Team Rubicon
ToolBank USA
Florida Methodist Church Disaster Relief
$200,000 was awarded to local community churches that were impacted by the storm. Providing funds to these institutions is imperative to ensure a sense of normalcy is brought back to the area through the faith community. Funds will be used to support traditional community support services or to enable churches to reopen and hold services while they await long-term repairs and applicable reimbursements.
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