President’s Message

Greetings,

A heartfelt Thank You to all the wonderful and generous folks throughout the United States who contributed to the Beacon of Hope following the devastation inflicted on Pine Island by Hurricane Ian.

But, now the FEMA and SBA tents are gone, the groups and organizations which came to distribute food and other needed supplies have returned home and the blue tarp roofs are disappearing, our Island is slowly returning to a more normal way of life. However, what we are finding in this “secondary phase” is unseen damage. This is damage not initially apparent but, when contractors started to repair our homes and vehicles it surfaced. A few examples to illustrate unseen initial damage would be mold which was initially hidden or appliances which initially functioned but because of the stress of electronic fluctuations as crews repaired our power grid no longer work. The list is long and we will continue to need your help.

So, how have we utilized the funds we have so far received?

• • Assisting local businesses and self-employed contractors with money to purchase tools that were destroyed. For example, with the assistance of United Way, we provided funds to fix the fence and purchase new playground equipment for the only preschool on Pine Island thereby allowing parents to return to work.
  • Providing emergency assistance to Islanders who were displaced or lost their jobs by giving financial assistance for:  
       ◦ Rent or mortgage
       ◦ Utility bills
       ◦ Special needs
       ◦ Repairs
       ◦ Transportation
       ◦ Assistance with animal care in cooperation with our local vet

The Beacon also assisted Islanders, many of whom were seniors that either didn’t have computers or needed help navigating websites, by providing access to computers, fax, and telephone services. Plus, we had a wonderful group of volunteer “navigators” to assist in using these services.

We are proud to report that now ALL of our 21+ local community programs have successfully restarted and are almost back to pre-Ian levels. In fact we have added some new ones.

The Beacon of Hope was initially founded by four Island churches to meet long term needs following the devastation caused in 2004 by hurricane Charley. We continue working on the long term recovery needs resulting from Hurricane Ian.

Please help us keep our “Beacon” shining brightly.

Thank You,

Caryle Regan, President
Beacon of Hope Pine Island Inc.

Jane’s Gift Fund

AT LAST!

After 17 years the Beacon of Hope is finally in a financial position to start an endowment. And we did. How you ask? Here’s the story.

The Beacon originally came into being following the devastation our Island suffered as a result of Hurricane Charley. It was considerable. Immediately following Charley we were supported by organizations such as the Red Cross, FEMA, the National Guard, plus others both state, local and national. After a few weeks, these entities pulled out of Pine Island. Community leaders along with four churches, St John’s, Our Lady of Miraculous Medal, Pine Island United Methodist, and Fishers of Men Lutheran realized that members of our community were still in need of a great deal of help. They formed an organization called Pine Island Long Term Recovery. This name remained for a few years then morphed into Beacon of Hope Pine Island Inc which is the official name of the Beacon.

When the Beacon was started it was strictly a “community service” type of organization. Early on the Board realized that a sustained income stream was needed and the Attic, our Thrift Store, was started. It now generates about 45% of our annual revenues with the remaining 55% coming from donations within our wonderful Pine Island community, grants we have been awarded, and our fundraising activities.

Fast forward to January, 2020. Our Board President at that time was Jane Bennington. She passed away suddenly. The donations that were received during the funeral were donated by her family to the Beacon. The amount was about $5800 dollars. So that this gift would keep on giving, at our Board meeting we discussed the possibility of starting an endowment in Jane’s name.

Then, COVID hit and the Attic closed. The funds were put aside. We did not know if they would be needed to support our community during those uncertain times. Fortunately, due to the generosity of our Island community, we were able to keep our Community Services department going without ANY closures and without turning away even ONE client who came to us asking for help. We are proud of this record.

We did not need to use the $5800. So, at our recent Board meeting, it was decided to go ahead and start our endowment. The funds were placed with the Southwest Florida Community Foundation DBA as Collaboratory.  The fund is called “Jane’s Gift Fund” for the Beacon of Hope Pine Island Inc.

We at the Beacon look to a bright future from Jane’s Gift.