The Greater Pine Island Civic Association holds meeting to better explain the islands resources

GREATER PINE ISLAND, Fla. — One thing hurricane Ian did was bring communities in Southwest Florida together, from neighbors helping each other to people coming from all over the state, “You just can’t leave the people you’ve connected with, so we kept deciding to stay and we kept deciding to show up,” one of the founding members of Mullet runners, a volunteer organization that started after hurricane Ian telling Fox 4 why they’re sticking around.

Random strangers who came together for one common goal to restore the greater pine island area, “I think our long term goal is to just stay here as a permanent fixture on the island, always be available to help as we move through complete rebuild and recovery,” Amy Vu, another founding member said.

While their efforts have helped, president of the Greater Pine Island Civic Association, Helen Fox says there are some problems they’re facing with the help of six different island organizations because people just don’t know what is available to them, “There’s been quite a bit of duplication of services and also people who want to help and don’t know where to go,” thats why the GPICA held a hurricane Ian recovery meeting on Tuesday night so residents could express concerns, ask questions and get information.

Which is why Arnett, now a permanent Pine Island resident and Vu came up with a system for their organizations with an online google survey, to ask residents what they needed help with so residents could go online and fill out a survey for specific services.

Those in attendance heard how the island plans to get organized to better serve the needs of the community.