FORT MYERS, Fla — An empty plot now sits outside the FK Your Diet restaurant in Fort Myers, marking where a symbol of hope once stood - a POD filled with donated items for people in need. Fox 4’s Austin Schargorodski went to the restaurant to talk with the owner about why he was forced to remove it.
Watch Austin's report:
On Wednesday, crews hauled away the POD that FK Your Diet says became a lifeline for a recovering community. FK Your Diet’s founder, Doug Miller, shared photos of the POD when it was filled with items like furniture, clothing, and blankets for families impacted by hurricanes.
“Since Hurricane Ian, we’ve spent well over $40,000 on POD rentals and storage fees to take stuff in and get it back out to the people that need it,” Miller said.
Miller says FK Your Diet has always been known for giving back, especially by helping feed foster children. But after the pandemic and recent hurricanes, he says the needs grew - and so did their donations.
“The POD has become an important part for everyone in the community that needed help or wanted to give help,” Miller said. “It was a place where people could drop off stuff or hand it directly to those in need.”
But on Wednesday, that help came to a sudden stop. Miller says a local realtor, Russel Rands, filed a complaint with Lee County Code Enforcement, saying he wanted it removed because he didn’t like looking at it.
“He knows what we do and why we’re doing it,” said Miller. “But he doesn’t like the way it looks and has to make a u-turn by my restaurant to go to his house and doesn’t like looking at it. Through our conversations he told me he likes to go around and find people that are in code violations, and make complaints about them - it’s his hobby.”
Miller says he would’ve moved the POD if asked, but now it’s done, found in violation of a vacant land use code.
Schargorodski reached out to Rands for comment, but his Facebook and phone were deactivated. He also left a voicemail at his realtor company but didn’t hear back.
Despite the setback, Miller says his mission isn’t over. He’s looking at different options, such as using a box truck, to continue their community work.
“I posted about this on social media because I didn’t want the community to think we gave up on them or didn’t care anymore,” Miller said. “There’s people out there that think everything’s fine—that people aren’t still hurting because of the hurricanes. But the fact of the matter is, they are.”
