$1 million in aid on its way to Louisiana from South Florida after Ida hits

DORAL, Fla. – Help is on the way from South Florida to those impacted by Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.

“In the boxes is (a) family necessities kit. It has basically a battery charger, it has blankets, it has (a) hygiene kit, COVID kit, it has food for a couple days,” Michael Capponi, of the Global Empowerment Mission, said.

A Local 10 News crew was in Doral Monday as a large truck was packed with 1,000 boxes to help 1,000 families, or about 5,000 people, in Louisiana.

It’s one of a few trucks that hit the road Monday from Global Empowerment Mission’s headquarters in Doral.

The local group partnered with other agencies with a proactive model to get relief to areas that need it most.

“We were scheduling volunteers here all weekend, packing boxes when this thing was still offshore, knowing in foresight what was going to happen,” Capponi said.

“All the team is ready to help and dispatch team and all the drivers -- they’re all ready to support,” said Ignas Jurkonois, of the UC Group.

Over $1 million in aid is now on the way to those in need.

“We have a team of a bunch of Green Berets from aerial recovery group that are going to go to search and rescue for the next week out there and then will set up distributions,” Capponi said.

Click here for more information about how you can help those impacted by Hurricane Ida.


About the Author:

Saira Anwer joined the Local 10 News team in July 2018. Saira is two-time Emmy-nominated reporter and comes to South Florida from Madison, Wisconsin, where she was working as a reporter and anchor.