FORT MYERS, Fla. — The family-owned flower shop, Jennie's Flowers of Tampa Bay, also have a location in Ft. Myers and they are sending relief south to help get employees hit hard by Hurricane Ian back open.
Florida is a big state, but connections across the region run deep. The manager of Fort Myers Florist on Cleveland Avenue said that the help they received from Tampa got them back open.
"So many people that are hit down here have connections to Tampa; it's a small world," WFTS reporter Michael Paluska said to Jean Marie Rakic. "Thank goodness," she responded.
Rakic watched as crews from Tampa cut limbs off trees, cleared debris and ensured the area was safe to reopen.
"We lost everything," Rakic said. "All of our flowers. We had weddings that we were going to be doing. We had a photo shoot we were going to be doing, so everything's gone. I'm devastated by what's going on here. And I really feel for the people who are much worse off than we are."
They are now restocking their coolers with thousands of flowers. Rakic told us she is getting calls for orders to send flowers to people impacted by the storm. Each flower is a sign of hope when people need it the most.
