Ron Seppa and Cindy Seppa unload donations from their car during a Bahamas Disaster Relief event at the Miromar Outlet Mall on Sunday, September 29, 2019, in Bonita Springs.(Photo: Wangyuxuan Xu/Naples Daily News USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA)

Two years ago, pallets of food, water and clothing flooded to Southwest Florida after Hurricane Irma ravaged communities. Locals havent forgotten about strangers' kind donations, and Floridians are giving backthis time,to the Bahamas.

Michael DeVolder stood in front of two FedEx shipping trailers, surrounded by half a dozen volunteers and boxes of donations, Sunday at Miromar Outlets. He spent the weekend taking clothes, tents and dog food from charitable locals wanting to help Bahamians in the aftermath of the countrys worst disaster, DeVolder said.

Weve all seen the pictures and know the story, he said.

Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the Abaco Islands on Sept. 1 as a Category 5 storm. The storm slowly drifted over the island of Grand Bahama, home to 50,000 residents. The deadly storm stalled for 30 hours as winds, reaching over 200 miles per hour, buffeted homes and infrastructure.

Hundreds of islanders are missing nearly a month after the storm.

The winds and floods of Hurricane Irma werent as deadly as Dorian, but families still faced life-changing damage as homes flooded and rainwater blasted into houses, said Kim Cabrera, teacher at Varsity Lakes Middle School in Lehigh Acres.

Many of my students were affected by Irma, Cabrera said.

Kimberly DeVolder holds a bag of clothes passing over During a Bahamas Disaster Relief event at the Miromar Outlet Mall on Sunday, September 29, 2019, in Bonita Springs.(Photo: Wangyuxuan Xu/Naples Daily News USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA)

She drove up to the Miromar Outlet with a dozen black trash bags full of clothes and other necessities. Cabrera started a school donation campaign days after Hurricane Dorian struck.

I reminded (my students) how bad it was for them (after Irma), she said. Students, staff, everybody started bringing stuff in.

Cabrera planned to use another group to send their donations to the Bahamas, but her deal fell through. She found the Miromar Outlets donation drive Saturday night and knew it was her last shot at getting the clothes to Bahamians.

The bags were sitting in my garage for weeks, she said.

No official organizations ran the event. DeVolder has experience running a nonprofit and knew how to get hold of the right people. FedEx offered to ship the items for free, and Miromar Outlets opened its parking lot. A ship organized by the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency is leaving Fort Lauderdale this week, and any donations that reach the pier will get to those in need.

People want to help but dont know how, DeVolder said. They cant ship a pallet of water to the Bahamas. Were giving them an easy option.

It worked.

Michael DeVolder oprates a forklift during a Bahamas Disaster Relief event at the Miromar Outlet Mall on Sunday, September 29, 2019, in Bonita Springs.(Photo: Wangyuxuan Xu/Naples Daily News USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA)

He expects to fill nearly two tractor-trailers of needed supplies. A Bahamas representative told DeVolder the islands needed tents for the homeless and pets supplies, he said.

They said everyone has a dog, DeVolder said. So thats what we asked for.

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Food, tents and pet supplies heading to Hurricane Dorian-battered Bahamas - Naples Daily News