Recovery and Resiliency at Camp

The week of March 18 was an emotional but uplifting one for us at the Greater Pine Island Alliance as we hosted 26 Island kids during Camp Noah. Like at most camps, the kids sang songs, had puppet shows, played games and just had good fun.

But this camp also offered something more: a safe space where they could work through their feelings about Hurricane Ian and how it changed their lives. I’m sure I wasn’t the only volunteer who got emotional looking at the drawings they used to tell the stories of what happened to them during the devastating storm.

The uplifting part of camp was seeing how resilient the kids are and taking from that our own lessons about moving forward with recovery.

At GPIA, we continue to work on Island resiliency by returning families to their homes and preparing for future disasters. We’ve teamed up with the Greater Pine Island Water Association to apply for grants to help with disaster planning and to implement some of the community’s needs so we can be better equipped to handle future disasters. (You can learn more about that here.)

• Because of camp, we canceled our March meeting, but hope to see you at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16. We’re holding our meetings at the Pine Island Community Church and, if you can’t attend in person, you can always tune in on our Facebook page.

Until then, please join in me in giving a big shout-out of thanks to the volunteers and businesses who helped make Camp Noah possible (keep reading for our honor roll) and, especially, to the American Red Cross for providing the support that allowed us to bring the camp to the Island and allow the kids to participate for free.

Erin Lollar Lambert
Executive Director
Greater Pine Island Alliance

Honor Roll

A Special Thanks to the Following Volunteers and Businesses That Helped Make Camp Noah a Success

Volunteers

Greg Brown, Susan Dahod, Amanda Davison, Gerald Davison, Leslie DesJarlais, Robin Kluge, Brianna Lacomb, Cindy Lavin, Mary Lewis Sheehan, Jodi Mann, Robert Mann, Nancy Nelson, Louise Piazza, Tonya Player, Kim Ross, Teresa Shattuck, Tabitha Vinger, Michelle White
Eric Whiteman

Meal, Snack & Cash Donations

The Eagle’s Nest, Honc Industries, Horse Eyed Jake’s American Sliders, Publix at Calusa Cay, Street Eatz and Ale, Salty Girls Island Cafe, Salty Girls Grab ‘n’ Go, Trader Joe’s

Facility

Thanks also go to the St. James City Civic Association for allowing us to host the camp at their center!