Bob and Colleen Geiger, a family from Pennsylvania who also have a home in St. Petersburg, collected donations to bring to the Diocese to aid in hurricane relief. Seeing the devastation first-hand after coming to inspect their own home for damage, they were moved with a desire to help.

“Seeing the devastation is one thing, but to go back and share it with your community, to let them know that people are so displaced, that children aren’t going to wake up to their everyday lives and are missing out on schooling. It touches home and this is where you’ve got to come together and you have to just unite,” said Colleen Geiger.

At their local Pennsylvania high school football game, they held a hurricane relief drive and received donations from nearly 200 participants from both the home and visiting schools. They felt led to share their experience with those in their area and it resulted in a fruitful collection.

 “We had to share to our community that this is everyday stuff we take for granted- to be able to brush our teeth, to be able to use deodorant, we take that for granted. These people would do anything to have that for a day,” Colleen remarked about those in the area still trying to recover.

After collecting supplies, they worked with their friends Tim and Teresa, parents of students at St. Petersburg Catholic High School, to coordinate distribution with the diocese.

With a full trailer in-tow, the Geiger family drove more than 1,000 miles to Florida and delivered the donations to the Pastoral Center. Donations ranged from toys, food, and clothing to hygiene and cleaning supplies. The Geigers are committed to additional collections and promoting donations to our Disaster Relief Fund when they return home.

“This is our portion of letting everybody know we are still all one and can be brought together,” added Colleen. “We will rebuild Florida strong.”