Mack promotes local relief organizations

In the aftermath of a hurricane, no one knows the needs of a community better than local organizations.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, visited one of those organizations Saturday to see its preparation and find out what he can do to help.

With about $8 million still needed to build a new center, the Harry Chapin Food Bank can use all the help it can get, said Hawley Botchford, the nonprofit organization’s executive director.

The food bank plans to ask the federal government for about $500,000 to help build its $10 million new facility, Botchford said.

During next year’s appropriations session, Mack said, he will look for the opportunity to help.

But more than that, Mack will work to ensure all local entities are getting the federal funding they need, he said.

The congressman said he is working on a system under which the Federal Emergency Management Agency would give block grants directly to states after a hurricane hits.

“Our state will be able to manage those funds better than Washington,” Mack said. “Who knows more about our community than the people who live here? Those decisions should be closer to home instead of being locked up in a bureaucracy.”

Hurricane Katrina illustrated what can happen when local, state and federal governments are not prepared.

Photo by Jeremy Lyverse, Daily News

Harry Chapin Food Bank Executive Director Hawley Botchford, left, goes over a map of the food bank’s coverage area with U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, at the bank’s warehouse in Fort Myers on Saturday. The food bank serves five counties covering more than 6,000 square miles in south Florida.

Preparation starts in local communities, which is why agencies such as the Harry Chapin Food Bank are so important, Mack said.

“Having something like this is why we are more prepared in Southwest Florida than in other parts of the country,” he said. “More communities need to take that approach and not always be looking for the state and Washington.”

After Hurricane Wilma, the Harry Chapin Food Bank distributed about 750,000 pounds of food and supplies in 20 days, said Joyce Jacobs, assistant director of the food bank.

The food bank typically hands out about 4 million pounds of food per year to 160 different agencies, she said.

The agency is part of America’s Second Harvest, a national food bank. After a storm or other disaster, the national distributor contacts donors throughout the country and is able to move more than a million pounds of food to the disaster area, Botchford said.

Mack acknowledged that a lot of people lost confidence in FEMA after Katrina and recent news about the agency’s misappropriation of funds has not helped.

“Anytime something like that happens, you lose confidence,” Mack said. “The last thing we need for FEMA is a lack of confidence.”

However, it’s important not to make the distribution process so strict that people can’t get the money they need, he said.

“It’s a tough call,” Mack said. “If you set up the system so it is too rigorous, you have a bunch of people who don’t have what they need.”