By LOIS KINDLE
The community response in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton was incredible, and many local business owners and residents stepped up to help victims of the storms. Good hearts all, they deserve our thanks.
One such person was Apollo Beach resident Kim Vinh, owner of True Nails salon in Ruskin/Sun City Center. When Helene arrived, she watched in horror as storm surge rose higher and higher around her new home. Fortunately, she and her husband, Binh, had built their home three feet higher than code, so water only entered her garage. Their car was flooded but salvageable; their son’s car survived.
Kim Vinh, her staff, clients and community volunteers worked together Oct. 20 to provide assistance to hundreds of people in need of food and nonperishable items and help with filing FEMA paperwork.
When Kim and Bihn Vinh opened True Nails on Oct. 20 to assist folks with initiating new FEMA applications or completing paperwork to have denials reversed, long lines of people turned out to recieve the support.
“My neighborhood was devastated,” she said. “Stuff was floating down Apollo Beach Boulevard.
“I felt blessed to have minor damage, and I told my husband we needed to do something,” Vinh continued. “So we went to Restaurant Depot, bought everything needed to make fried rice and egg rolls, and then posted they were available on social media. I wasn’t prepared for the response.
Vinh gave away more than 200 free meals to folks who had lost everything. Some also went to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue in Apollo Beach.
Then came Milton.
She and her husband evacuated this time.
“When we returned home, we could not believe all the downed trees and power lines,” Vinh said. “We lost our screened room, and the wind had blown water through the broken sliding glass door and damaged the ceiling. But our roof was intact, and we felt lucky.
Following both hurricanes, Kim Vinh purchased food, prepared hundreds of meals and distributed them to hungry folks who’d lost everything. Using her own funds and contributions from clients and friends on social media, she also purchased 50 camping stoves with propane and donated them.
“God sent us a signal again,” Vinh said. “Everyone had lost their power. We knew we needed to do something for the community.”
This time she purchased 50 propane camping stoves, which came with a total of 150 propane tanks. She joined Meet me in the Street Ministry, a nonprofit group, which feeds folks in need every Tuesday, and posted via email and on social media again.
She also met with Julie Cockerham, owner of the Fish House in Ruskin, whose business site was one of the collection centers for item donations, and left behind 30 stoves.
She sprang into action once more and prepared 400 meals of egg rolls, rice and meatball soup and then visited different communities in the area, including Hawaiian Isles and Caribbean Isles.
COURTESY PHOTOS
Kim Vinh and her husband, Bihn, owners of the True Nails salon in Ruskin/Sun City Center, suffered minimal damage to their home in Apollo Beach during the recent hurricanes. Seeing the suffering of others who lost everything in the storms, they felt called to give back by helping folks in need.
“Kim was the point of contact as you came through the salon for donations and took in blankets, bedding, glasses, plate sets, cups, towels, toiletries and all sorts of items that a person who lost everything would need,” said Sun City Center Kerry Larson, a True Nails customer and volunteer. “[After signing up and training as a FEMA volunteer], she and Bihn also arranged a FEMA assistance session, during which the salon was opened Oct. 20, and volunteers came to help people initiate new applications or complete paperwork to have denials reversed.
“We offered a shoulder and collected bags of food and nonperishable items,” Larsen continued. “When I arrived at 8:45 a.m., there were hundreds of people waiting for help from the team of volunteers.”
Vinh kept the salon open until everyone who came received assistance.
“One hundred twenty applications were successful, and 80% of the folks who filed them received funds from FEMA right away,” Vinh said.
“My parents raised me to help others when given the opportunity,” she said. “We used the money we got from FEMA to feed people affected by the storms. We also received donations from some clients and friends on social media.”
It was simply something she felt called to do.