Hurricane Irma: Church removes debris, provides food and water to Collier County residents

As the sun beat down on Golden Gate City and a generator hummed loudly in the background, families were handed food and supplies Saturday morning outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Mormon church is just one of many churches across Collier County answering the call to help residents in need of food and water after losing their homes or power in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

Like many local residents, sisters Gregoria and Felicita Gutierrez lost power and experienced some damage to both their Golden Gate City homes. Felicita's had water damage after most of the roof's shingles were blown off and Gregoria lost much of her fence.

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While their homes regained electricity Friday, all their food was spoiled and they didn't have enough between the two of them to purchase more.

"I'm on disability and I don't have any other help," Gregoria, 68, said in Spanish.

Felicita, 73, is recovering from spine surgery.

As they wait for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Gutierrez family is getting by with the church's donation of canned goods, water and toiletries.

"This helps us a lot," Gregoria added.

Since Friday, about 7,000 Church of Jesus Christ members from Florida and across the country have distributed supplies, removed debris and cut down trees across Collier County and parts of Miami and Key West.

Many out-of-state church members have slept in makeshift campsites at three of the church's Southwest Florida locations, including Golden Gate City, Immokalee and Fort Myers.

"We brought down about 150 people from Tampa alone," said Patrick Thornton, stake president of the church in the Tampa area.

As part of the church, Thornton has responded to many natural disasters. He traveled to New Orleans two months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005.

"It was paralyzing to the people there because they didn't know what to do or where to start," he said.

Church members plan to work the region until Sunday and possibly even longer depending on what the need is.

"It's what the Savior would do," Thornton said.

As a church member, Donna Thompson, 60, volunteered Saturday and helped local residents get food and water. As a Naples resident, she herself experienced minor damage to her home off Goodlette-Frank Road.

Many trees toppled around her home. One, a royal palm, tore into the screen over the pool.

Fortunately, some church members decided to pay a visit to her home Saturday and removed the debris.

While Thompson still doesn't have power, she considers herself lucky and wants to help others in return.

"There are people worse off than we are," she said.

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