Local non-profit again organizing hurricane relief

Kadens Kloset, a Cedar Valley non-profit organization, is once again organizing disaster relief assistance to the area hit hardest by Hurricane Ian.

The group is accepting donations between Oct. 5 and Oct. 15 that will be taken to the Fort Myers area in Florida that was struck by Ian’s landfall on Sept. 28, hitting the mainland United States as a Category 4 hurricane. More than 100 have died as a result of the storm, many are displaced from heavily-damaged or destroyed homes and early estimates of around $67 billion in damages would make it the costliest storm in Florida history.

Donations can be dropped off at Cedar Falls Construction Co., 3533 W. Airline Highway, Waterloo. Items needed include cleaning supplies, heavy-duty totes, non-perishable food items and basic clothing and toiletry items - a full detailed list is available at http://www.kadenskloset.com/disasterrelief.html.

Kristle Davis, Kadens Kloset’s founder and CEO, lives in Aplington with her husband, Nick, and the relief team often includes volunteers from the surrounding areas.

Kadens Kloset started in 2016 as a resource for foster children and the families that care for them.

When another hurricane, Harvey, made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 in 2017, Kadens Kloset partnered with many Cedar Valley and Iowa businesses, non-profits and individuals to collect hundreds of thousands of pounds of food, supplies and necessities from all over the Midwest, stocking trailers, box trucks and semis full of these supplies, and delivered them to neighborhoods and communities hardest hit by devastating floods and storm surge.

There were also 26 laborers that delivered supplies, stocked a food pantry, removed debris, cut down trees and branches, removed wet drywall and sewage-soaked debris from homes and set up a feeding station to feed more than 200 individuals and families that had their homes displaced by the storm.

A similar response is being formed with volunteers from Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. They are looking for donors to provide supplies to help Florida residents meet water, food and toiletry needs.

Kadens Kloset is a 100-percent volunteer and donation-run 501(c)3 organization.