Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry announced the creation of a First Coast relief fund Monday. This fund will aid those impacted by Hurricane Matthew and any other future natural disasters to affect Northeast Florida.
Curry said “there are a lot of people in this city that are hurting right now, there are people in this city that struggle to make it every single day and now they have significant financial burden on them,” during a news conference at the Northeast Florida’s American Red Cross building on Riverside Avenue.
“The First Coast Relief Fund will help get those individuals throughout Northeast Florida who need assistance to get back on their feet,” Curry added. “A hundred percent of all gifts will go to relief effort and any unspent funds will be used to seed a permanent disaster relief fund for Northeast Florida.”
President of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund Sherry Magill told our news partner News4Jax that Florida's First Coast Relief Fund will begin with a $250,000 gift from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. The Fund will then match gifts up to $250,000 for a total contribution of about $500,000.
“These funds will help provide needs such as housing, medical costs, food and supplies, repairs and other immediate and long term needs,” Curry said.
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund gave $25,000 each to the Red Cross and to the Salvation Army in aid.
Donations for Florida’s First Coast Relief Fund are being accepted by the United Way of Northeast Florida and the American Red Cross Disaster Relief.
Contact Kayla Davis at newsteam@wjct.org or on Twitter at @Kayla_Charisse
