{"id":101671,"date":"2025-12-31T22:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/101671\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T22:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:23:07","slug":"fort-myers-community-rallies-to-support-vulnerable-in-cold-weather-lee-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/101671\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Myers community rallies to support vulnerable in cold weather | Lee County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">As temperatures dipped overnight in Southwest Florida, local organizations, including Kimmie&#8217;s Recovery Zone, stepped up to help the most vulnerable.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">They set up at the Leetran South Fort Myers bus station, handing out blankets, gloves, and hats, while reminding people that there is someone who cares for them.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Kimmie&#8217;s Recovery Zone was present all morning, not only providing cold-weather essentials but also resources for those in need. Some expressed gratitude with a simple &#8216;thank you,&#8217; while others became emotional, telling the volunteers that this moment of kindness was exactly what they needed.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;We&#8217;re here to try to show people that there is a warm handoff, that we do care, and we&#8217;re here for them, and whatever we can do for them, we&#8217;re going to do,&#8221; said Al Kinkle, founder of Kimmie&#8217;s Recovery Zone.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Bret Berlent, who utilized the resources, said, &#8220;If there were more people like this, it probably won&#8217;t be so many cold people at night.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The volunteers transformed a cold bus stop into a welcoming space. Simple items like blankets, gloves, and hats can mean everything on a night like this. For one man, this act of kindness restored his hope.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;I was losing faith, and now this just brings it back. So it&#8217;s just little things like this. You know, you never know what the next day is going to bring. So there&#8217;s always tomorrow, right?&#8221; said Berlent.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For one volunteer, the mission is personal. &#8220;I was homeless, addicted, and in despair, and I reached out to a local organization called Kimmie&#8217;s Recovery Zone,&#8221; said Pedro Nunez, who works for the organization. &#8220;So by me being in that struggle, a part of that struggle, and overcoming that struggle. You know, I can relate to somebody like that, and that causes that vulnerability.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As the night grew colder, the compassion at the bus station only grew stronger, showing that even in the chilliest moments, community warmth can make all the difference.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Share the love. Don&#8217;t give up on anybody believing in them. And if there&#8217;s somebody that you haven&#8217;t called in a while, give them a phone call. They&#8217;re waiting for you to call. I&#8217;m sure,&#8221; said Kinkle.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Kimmie&#8217;s Recovery Zone emphasized that moments like these remind them why their mission is crucial, and reactions like those they witnessed help change lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As temperatures dipped overnight in Southwest Florida, local organizations, including Kimmie&#8217;s Recovery Zone, stepped up to help the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,3837,325],"class_list":{"0":"post-101671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news","11":"tag-collaborator_gen_stories","12":"tag-lee"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}