PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — It's been called the season of giving — and volunteers for the non-profit Team Rubicon were working to help people impacted by Ian come back to their homes for the holidays.
On Friday, it was not your traditional holiday sleigh nor a time for trimming Christmas trees.
Jarrett Brown, a leader for Team Rubicon, told Fox 4 it is a time for giving back to families this holiday season.
“I am surprised by the number of volunteers that show up during the holidays,” said Brown.
On Friday, Brown's merry band of six volunteers worked to clean up hurricane debris outside of a home in Punta Gorda.
“This provides them the next step to give them that hope to start rebuilding their lives,” said Brown.
So far, Brown said Team Rubicon has served 1,716 Florida residents with 2,076 volunteers deployed in 50 Florida cities for seven operations in response to Hurricane Ian.
Brown says volunteer crews do everything from work inside of homes, to removing debris so it can be collected.
“Yeah, we call it TR clean, so we make it as whole as we can to where all they have to do is come in and rebuild,” said Brown.
Brown said they were welcoming volunteers throughout the holiday weekend in Charlotte and Lee County.
Here are the several ways you can connect and give back with Team Rubicon:
- To donate, please visit teamrubiconusa.org/give [teamrubiconusa.org] or use our Text to Give Program
- Text the word RUBICON to 20222 to donate $10 to Team Rubicon
- Text the word TEAM to 20222 to donate $25 to Team Rubicon
- If you're not an at-risk individual, you can also sign up as a volunteer to deploy during a local operation.
