Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity members understood the devastating power Hurricane Idalia was about to unleash on Florida and made sure they were there for victims picking up the pieces...
Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane at Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on Aug. 30, 2023. It destroyed homes, leveled trees, and flooded streets on a trail of devastation across Florida’s Big Bend, one of the state's largest agricultural production regions. Just three days later, despite widespread destruction and it being Labor Day weekend, a group from the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho at the University of Florida was helping hurricane victims on Sept. 3, 2023.
Our chapter understands that after a hurricane comes through, they should clear their schedules and be ready to serve.
Brothers Blake Beltz, Michael Williams, Doug Harrison, Wesley Freeman, Brent Long, Braedon Raper, Bo Sub, and Richard Doleson cleared roads and removed debris for numerous victims of Hurricane Idalia using a tractor, chainsaws, and various lawn tools they brought from Gainesville, Florida. The equipment they brought had been purposefully packed well ahead of the storm’s arrival.
Brother Blake Beltz, Noble Ruler of Alpha Gamma Chapter, said the Chapter began preparing before Hurricane Idalia made landfall. They knew what to bring and how to assist hurricane recovery efforts because of experience responding to natural disasters. “Last year we had done something similar with Hurricane Ian,” Beltz said.
After the Cattlemen's Association reached out, nearly two dozen members from the chapter helped hurricane recovery effort near Lake Placid, Florida in Sept. 4-5, 2022. The group helped ranchers across the area for two days, staying overnight at Collegiate Advisory Council Member Brother Gabe Smoak's home.
Brother Beltz said one project made a lasting memory for the whole chapter. It was helping an elderly woman whose husband had been a member of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association
