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FORT MYERS — Doug Miller can’t fix the devastation of people’s homes and lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. But he can provide a little comfort in the way he knows best — with a hot, home cooked meal.
Miller and his partner Amy Eldridge are former Mansfield residents and the owners of FK Your Diet – a scratch home cooking eatery serving hearty meals in southwest Florida.
It isn’t business as usual at FK Your Diet’s flagship location in Fort Myers, but the kitchen is as busy as ever. Staff members and volunteers, some of whom lost everything in the storm, are cooking meals all day, every day to give away to those in need.
“As a restaurant, we’ve given away about 135,000 hot meals to date since the storm,” Miller said. “It’s quite an operation.”
Eldridge said the pair is working 18-hour days, preparing meals and driving around town to deliver them.
The couple starts each morning delivering breakfast to people living out of their cars, then makes their way to a local trailer park.
During the immediate aftermath, employees prepared meals without power or water, relying on generators and using ingredients donated by a local Zaxby’s and Bonefish Grill.
Utilities have since been restored, but Miller said southwest Florida is still reeling from Ian’s devastation.
Lawns are littered with debris – fallen trees, scraps of drywall and carpet, appliances and personal possessions. People are living out of their cars, parking in the well-lit lots of big box stores each night. Hotels that survived the storm are completely booked up.
“You know when you open a can of soup and peel the aluminum lid back? That’s what the roofs in the trailer parks look like,” Miller said.
The storm didn’t just impact homes – businesses have been ravaged too, leaving some residents without a job or a place to lay their head.
As volunteers from across the country leave and the news cycle moves on, Florida residents have been left to pick up the pieces.
“After about three weeks, all the disaster relief people leave. We can’t just open our doors and act like nothing has happened,” Eldridge said. “There’s still such a high demand of help that is needed.”
In addition to cooking thousands of free meals every day, FK Your Diet has also become a hub where residents can drop off or pick up essential supplies.
Miller said truckloads of toilet paper, bottled water, cleaning supplies, paper towels, diapers, clothing and donated furniture have moved through the site in the last month.
“All day long we get deliveries from people who are donating stuff,” Miller said.
A local school recently contacted the restaurant to ask if they could help collect school supplies after it absorbed student bodies from two other buildings. According to Eldridge, the school went from housing 300 students to 1,150.
FK Your Diet made an Amazon wishlist for the school and shared it on its Facebook page, which has become a one-stop source of information on ways to give, ways to volunteer and available resources.
“It was always our goal to become a community restaurant, that would support foster kids, support the local schools, support things that deserve support,” Miller said.
“We always anticipated that we would get to where we’re at today, we just weren’t ready to go all in. The storm kind of pushed us all in.”
Foster kid fare
While Hurricane Ian has heightened FK Your Diet’s philanthropic efforts, giving back has always been a part of the restaurant’s mission.
The meaning of ‘FK’ is a twofold. It’s a cheeky invitation to indulge, but also an acronym for ‘foster kids.’
Five percent of FK Your Diet’s profits go to local agencies that benefit foster kids, including the Every Child Initiative, Lutheran Services and the Children’s Network of South West Florida. The restaurant also hosts initiatives like a Thanksgiving feast and graduation gala for foster kids that don’t have a place to go.
Helping foster kids and families is personal for Miller, who spent 12 years in the system after both his parents passed away.
The meals are inspired by Miller’s favorite meals from when he was a child — from mouthwatering cheeseburgers and baked ziti to sausage, biscuits and gravy.
“I lived with 15 different foster families. That meant 15 different sets of rules, cultures, communities that I had to learn — and 15 different menus,” he said.
“(Foster parents) don’t get nearly the money they need to raise a kid, so most of the meals I ate growing up were pretty bad.”
Miller said that a truly amazing meal made him feel as loved and cherished as any other kid. He wants his patrons to feel the same way.
“People don’t give food enough credit,” he said. “Food is the one thing that brings us all together.”
To donate to FK Your Diet’s relief efforts, visit www.fkyourdiet.com/donations or the company’s Amazon Smile wishlists.
