As many of you know and have seen images of on the news, the Southwest portion of Florida has been more than devastated by a Category 4, just 2 knots shy of a Category 5(the worst) hurricane. This hurricane has been one of the largest and most powerful in US history. The devastation is shocking with massive storm surge damage. This area was never in the predicted area of destruction. It was suppose to be the Tampa Bay area and Clearwater Beach, where we are and where the F18 Worlds will take place. WE WERE COMPLETELY SPARED AND ARE IN GREAT SHAPE. As a result, in part of being taken by surprise, many down South did not have the means or the time to get out when the storm unexpectedly turned.

Over the last couple of days, the waters have continued to rise and continue to destroy homes, business, properties and most importantly, the lives and livelihood of so many people. For most everyone who lived in one of the mobile home communities. their homes and all their possessions are destroyed and gone forever. Many of these people don’t’ have a nest egg of savings to help them. Too many to count yet, who had propper houses and condos have also lost everything. The before and after shots of the Ft Myers Beach and surrounding areas are unrecognizable. Many of these people will be living in shelters for a long time as everything sorts out, particularly those who do not have family to go to. The houses that are left have no water or electric or working infrastructure and will not for a long time.

In our last message announcing that the F18 Worlds were going on, we also announced that we were going to host a raffle at the event and raise some money for the Hurricane Victims. Daniel Hearn has volunteered to run our special raffle we will do at the event. We have invited everyone to participate and even make some private donations to supplement what we raise. If you know of someone who would like to donate items for the raffle, we also welcome that/. We have had several people pledge to chip in to the cause. Our next task is to decide what charity to provide the funds to and how to disperse the money. THIS IS WHERE YOUR OPINION COMES IN.

We want to make sure that if we donate the money to a charity that this money will go directly to the victims. There are ways to help ensure that which we are looking into. We have had some suggestions already to entertain. If you plan to donate to our collection with cash or raffle items, please make sure this is done by the conclusion of the event.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. We want everyone to be a part of this process.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PLEDGE to this project, you can keep it private and notify us or if you want to show your support, comment with the amount or the raffle items that you would like to donate. There is no amount that is too small or too large!