Heart to Heart International is shipping hygiene supplies and oral rehydration solutions to the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Isaias bears down on the Florida Panhandle.
The Lenexa-based nonprofit's Disaster Response Team was preparing to leave Friday, Oct. 9, for an assessment trip to the region, KCTV5 reported. The team plans to evaluate local needs, meet with community leaders and coordinate where supplies go once conditions allow distribution.
FedEx is helping transport the aid.
Heart to Heart said it is pre-positioning the shipments near the storm's projected impact area so relief can begin as soon as the hurricane passes.
The National Hurricane Center placed Isaias about 145 miles south of Pensacola, Florida, as of 1 p.m. CDT Friday, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. The Category 3 storm was moving north-northeast at 16 mph and was expected to make landfall Friday evening. A hurricane warning stretched from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay County-Gulf County line in Florida.
Forecasters warned of storm surge reaching 6 to 9 feet along the Alabama-Florida border to Grayton Beach, Florida, and rainfall of 4 to 8 inches across southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, with localized totals up to 15 inches. The NHC expected Isaias to weaken after landfall and become post-tropical by late Saturday, Oct. 10.
Heart to Heart operates an 83,000-square-foot warehouse in Lenexa and holds World Health Organization certification as an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Type 1 Mobile, one of only four U.S. organizations with that designation, according to the nonprofit's disaster response page. In 2024, the organization shipped nearly $400 million worth of products to 30 countries and 34 U.S. states and territories.
J.P. Fisher directs the nonprofit’s disaster response program. In August, after storms knocked out power for thousands in Kansas City, Kansas, Fisher told KCTV5 the organization pivoted to help locally: "We respond to disasters all over the world, but once the storms came through, we realized there was a disaster right here in our backyard.
KCTV5’s report did not specify shipment quantities or staging locations.
Upcoming community events
- Saturday, Oct. 10: Lenexa Chili Challenge in Old Town Lenexa, featuring nearly 200 teams.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: De Soto hosts a free Halloween trail event.
