There were no crates of bottled water, boxes of MREs, blue tarps, or bags of ice.
Instead, on Friday afternoon, a Bradenton real estate office was filled up with a different kind of relief for storm victims — in particular, young storm victims.
The office was full of colorful toys of every variety.
“Oh my gosh! A swimming Barbie!” Gianna, 10, exclaimed. “I love Barbies!”
Gianna and her family evacuated from their Bradenton home before Hurricane Milton carved through the state.
“We had to leave because I felt like we were going to die, kind of. And I was scared that we were going to flood because we were near the boat ramp, and it was very scary,” the ten-year-old said.
Thanks to a generous nonprofit from Nevada, Ashlee’s Toy Closet, Gianna and other kids could select three toys from the room full of them.
All her mom, Cortney Popa, could do was watch in tears.
“The look on the kids’ faces. They’re so happy,” she said. “There’s no words for it.”
The act of charity was emotional for Popa to watch because it filled a void Milton left behind.