Former Aeropostale CEO helps Beacon of Hope on Pine Island by creating ‘Stronger than the Surge’ campaign
When islander and former Aeropostale CEO Tom Johnson saw the shape of the island after Hurricane Ian hit, he said he knew something had to be done to help Pine Island. He gives credit for the whole idea to his wife Marie, as he and an old colleague came up with the tag line, “Stronger than the Surge,” because, he said, it embodies the spirit of the people of this island.
“Even though they’ve been knocked down and had the stuff beat out of them, they’re strong and they’re passionate about this island and their love for this place and the sense of community is extraordinary,” Johnson said.
With the campaign name chosen, Johnson began having T-shirts printed. Employees from Aeropostale and Nautica will wear the shirts in an effort to show unanimous support for the rebuilding of Pine Island.
“They’re going to wear the shirt and we gave them a little flyer — each store printed up thousands of them, so when customers come in they can explain that the Beacon of Hope on Pine Island is trying to raise money,” Johnson said.
In addition to raising awareness through the T-shirt campaign, Johnson said he has a radio spot coming up in Maryland, as well as having printed the tees for students and teachers at Pine Island Elementary School.
“I’m hoping that we can raise enough money that we can make a difference for some of the folks on the island. I’ve had the pleasure of being able to be a resident of Pine Island. The people make all the difference in the world — they would give you the shirt off their backs. They would do anything to help one another. It’s really a sense of community. I knew we had to do something right away,” Johnson said.
Thanks to a few generous locals giving and matching donations, the Beacon of Hope was able to add to and help the new campaign to combat needs left in the wake of Hurricane Ian, said long-time board member Elsie Stearns.
In order to meet the varying needs of the community, she said, which range from money for gas to money for rent, the Beacon has created a task force committee comprised of board members and community members from within the organization. Volunteers for this task force had been working from the FEMA tent in Phillips Park due to a lack of power and internet initially at the Beacon building on Doug Taylor Circle.
“The Beacon hit the ground running — going out and trying to locate some of our clients — specifically the Beacon Bites clients,” Stearns said, noting that a number of them had evacuated for the hurricane.
As the Beacon weighs the needs of the overall community, Stearns said board members felt it was important to incorporate the help of island residents in a vetting process, as some post-hurricane needs are fairly large.
“Some people may need a car, some people may need a camper, we don’t know. Our goal is to raise a lot of money,” Stearns said.
The “Stronger than the Surge” campaign will have enormous reach, as Stearns said not only are the tees going to be worn at all Aeropostale and Nautical stores in the state of Florida, but the QR code on the back of each shirt makes it possible to make a donation to the Beacon of Hope for hurricane victims.
“This will hopefully help us to raise awareness and to raise funds to assist our community in getting back on its feet. The resilience of this island has always been amazing to me — it’s made of everything from the old time fisherman to some of the wealthiest people in Florida,” Stearns said.
There is no cap on the goal of this campaign.
Tees can be found at the Pine Island branch of Centennial Bank, 5551 Sunset Lane, St. James City, and the Beacon Attic Thrift Store, 5090 Doug Taylor Circle in St. James City.