FGCU Puts a Pause on “Eagles in Need” Hurricane Relief Fund

Just one week after Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida, FGCU launched the “Eagles in Need” relief fund as an emergency response that would provide one-time awards to assist students, faculty, and staff.  

“After assessing Hurricane Ian’s impact on our community, it was clear that many of our students, faculty, and staff were severely impacted by the storm. The inspiration for creating this fund was born out of our desire to help our students, faculty, and staff as best as we could, given the constraints we all faced,” Dr. Mitch Cordova, Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Management, said.  

According to Cordova, 292 faculty and staff received a $1000 reward, totaling $292,000, and 2,430 students received a $500 reward, totaling $1,215,000 as of October 24. 

“The fund, along with the process for distributing these funds, was created very quickly. We truly can’t thank the FGCU Foundation, FGCU Financing Corporation, and our community for donating money to support the fund,” Cordova said. 

Now, over a month has passed, and the “Eagles in Need” application process has been paused, but several FGCU community members still need support and financial assistance.  

Lexi Barber is one of the FGCU students affected by Hurricane Ian. Her family in Port Charlotte and North Port suffered from power outages for 12 days after the storm and immense long-term damage, including flooding and roof leaks due to the loss of shingles. 

 “My family lost everything on our property [except for] our home, and even that sustained great damage. My father’s house was flooded over a foot deep, and it ruined everything in their home. New flooring, new cabinets, new furniture - thousands and thousands of dollars just to get stuff back to normal or as close to normal as we can get it,” said Barber. 

After FGCU introduced the “Eagles in Need” relief fund, she received an award but still felt like it was not enough to mend the brokenness she and her family had endured. 

“The fund helped buy groceries for my family of eight, but at the same time, it felt like they were telling me my life and all of my ruined stuff was only worth $500. I am grateful for even getting any money, don’t get me wrong, but all of that was simply spent on groceries that we could eat without power or water,” said Barber. 

On October 12, FGCU announced the “Eagles in Need” relief fund would be paused, allowing extra time for the Eagle Care Relief Fund team to process applications and distribute funds to students, faculty, and staff on an as-needed basis.  
“Eagles in Need was created very quickly as part of our emergency response to Hurricane Ian, and it continues to be managed by a small number of employees from across the university. It has been a tremendous amount of work to make sure we are able to support the needs of our students and employees, and we are working through our applications as fast as we can to make sure we are best supporting those in need,” Cordova said.  

Cordova said that conversations are ongoing to determine when they anticipate reopening the application forms. However, it cannot reopen without additional fundraising efforts. 

“I still think everyone who was affected is still suffering greatly ... even now, a month later, we are still cleaning up and hearing horror stories about this hurricane,” said Barber. 

For those interested in donating online, please visit www.fgcu.edu/ianrelief or by sending a check with “Hurricane Ian Relief Fund” in the memo line to: 

Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation, Inc. 
Campus Support Complex 
10501 FGCU Blvd. S. 
Fort Myers, FL 33965-6565