FORT MYERS, Fla. — After Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida, Krista Kowalczyk’s photography business tanked. But in the midst of her own troubles, she began an extraordinary effort to help others.

“I was kind of a little lost trying to figure out what am I going to do with myself,” Krista said of how she was feeling in the days following the storm.

When Krista noticed some water-damaged pictures at a friend’s house, she realized she could help restore what had been destroyed.

“I just kept thinking: ‘what if this was me,’” Krista said.

After Krista posted on social media offering to help restore photographs, she became inundated with hundreds of requests. Volunteers from across the country joined in the effort to help bring family memories back.

“With a lot of these photographs, the families would have been happy with anything… but everyone who worked on these pictures took it very seriously,” Krista said.

Six months after Ian, Krista and her volunteers are still restoring photographs. They will do so as long as there is a need.

“Even something simple to one person can just mean the world to someone else,” Krista said.

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