provided to The Santiva Chronicle
After sustaining heavy damage from Hurricane Ian, Noah’s Ark at St Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church has been repaired and serving as The Gathering Place for displaced organizations. Now the main church buildings have been repaired and the lengthy process of setting up the thrift shop is underway. It is slated to reopen in October.
Donations are not being accepted at this time. It may be the end of summer before volunteers are set up to receive and sort them. It will take several months to set up various racks, shelving, display units and the check-out stations, and much more.
Noah’s Ark was created more than 60 years ago as a ministry of the church in support of organizations which aid those in need. The building received several updates and was brought up to code, including an expanded entrance ramp, higher ceilings throughout, scratch resistant LVP flooring, two ADA accessible restrooms, three new A/C units and a sound system.
The Ark was repaired first after the storm, but it has been serving as the church sanctuary and a gathering place for organizations, such as FEMA, Santiva Islanders, Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva, and AA groups, free of charge.
Visit the St. Michael website here for updates on progress, when donations will open, and the official reopening date.