Members and staff of the Boca Raton, Fla., property have collected $83,000 as well as goods such as fans, food, cleaning products, diapers and generators for those affected by the storm.
Club Board member Ron Gallatin checked on the mounds of merchandise in the makeshift collection center in St. Andrews Country Club clubhouse in Boca Raton, Fla., under the sign “St. Andrews Cares,” the Broward County, Fla., Sun-Sentinel reported.
“We put together a basic list,” said Gallatin, working on no sleep and grasping a handful of residents’ checks. “We have collected $83,000 and that’s what this community all about.”
Volunteers streamed in, some with their children, to pack cartons full of fans, food, paper goods, cleaning products, diapers and generators, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“Let’s not forget the animals,” said Andrea Kline, who brought dog and cat food to add to the donations.
C&RB has reported on the aftermath of the storm, which made landfall on September 10.
Used to raising millions for professional golfer and longtime St. Andrews’ resident Morgan Pressel’s annual dinner, auction and golf outing for breast cancer, Hurricane Irma’s aftermath was time-sensitive, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“We raised $6.5 million for Morgan’s event,” over more than a decade, said club president Steve Irwin. “For Irma, we just started four days ago and we alerted the membership in an e-blast. We raised $50,000 in three days,” he said about the full- and part-time residents in the 696-home community.”
“Donations are also coming in from our snowbirds. When the call first went out, the response was, ‘how can we help?’ We’re very gratified to be involved with the project, but it wasn’t a hard sell. Everybody came in energized,” Irwin said.
Having a philanthropist like Gallatin on board with an organizing skill set made the momentum easier, Irwin said. Gallatin is president, chairman and CEO of Hands on Tzedakah and executive vice president of St Andrews’ board, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“St. Andrews is one of 51 organizations and Ron is working 24 hours a day,” Irwin said about the donations for Hurricane Irma victims in Key West and the Caribbean.
“We’ll truck all this to a collection center tomorrow,” said Craig Martin, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager. “Our staff came in without regard to hours or compensation for people who were victimized by nature.”
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