Johnson helps out Irma victims
Vitalia Blanco smiled and rubbed Jimmie Johnson’s stubbly beard in the 97-yearold’s sweltering home.
Johnson’s beard isn’t white, but it might as well have been. The NASCAR star driver came Monday bearing gifts, along with the First Response Team of America and Lowe’s, to Blanco’s tiny home.
“I’ve always had this desire to give back and help those in need,” Johnson said. “Perspective is everything.”
Blanco, 97, lives with her son Lazaro, who was checking on her every 30 minutes after Hurricane Irma knocked out power and felled a large tree in the yard of the Cuban immigrants.
Johnson, members of First Response Team and area Lowe’s stores installed a donated generator and air conditioner, then Johnson grabbed a chain saw and got a start on cutting huge limbs off a tree that others were finishing removing later Monday.
Besides the feeling of helping out and the perspective of seeing the devastation, Johnson gained a somewhat unexpected one after having a chat with Lazaro.
“That conversation alone was mind-blowing,” Johnson said. “The son was telling us he was arrested for years (in Cuba) for speaking his mind in a public place.
“That’s all we do anymore is speak our mind, social media included. I’m very thankful for that perspective.”
Just hours earlier, Johnson was
finishing eighth in the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.
After the race ended, Johnson flew to his home in Charlotte, landing about 10:30 p.m. Johnson was at the airport at 7:40 a.m. for a flight and landed at 9:45 a.m.
Johnson, who turned 42 Sunday, wasn’t alone. Genevieve, his 7-year-old daughter, had been asking question after question while watching hurricane coverage on The Weather Channel. So she got a firsthand field trip, at the end donating an armful of stuffed monkeys to give to children affected by Irma.
First, Johnson visited two Na-
ples Lowe’s stores — his main sponsor — and a couple of women in the break room at the second one shrieked in delight at his presence while he took photos and signed autographs.
Then Johnson and a team from Lowe’s joined with members from First Response at the Blancos’ home.
Lazaro Blanco, who translated for his mother, said they had evacuated but she wanted to return to their home two days after Irma passed. He said when they arrived she was sad when she saw fruit trees that had been downed but was happy to see their house intact.
Tad Agoglia, who started his non-profit First Response Team in 2007, arrived in southwest Florida soon after Irma, and his team started helping immediately, beginning in Bonita Springs. He drove around Naples looking for residences he thought might need the most help. When he saw the huge downed trees at the Blancos, he knocked on the door, met Lazaro, discovered the situation his mother was in and that they didn’t have insurance.
“I was moved by the family’s story,” Agoglia said. “He’s constantly checking on his mom and worried that she might not make it through this terrible heat.”
That’s when he reached out to Lowe’s — he has a partnership with the company — and then it turned into the involvement of Johnson. The seven-time champ had been planning to do something to help after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, but with Irma bearing down, he waited.
“Jimmie being out here, just for him to be out here and shining a light on what we’re doing, I think really, really helps people become aware of the needs that are here and the work that we’re trying to accomplish,” Agoglia said.
Agoglia received quite the reaction when he told Lazaro Blanco what was going to happen. He cried, thankful because he’d been checking on his mom so often.
“That’s really what this is all about,” said Agoglia, 41. “Seeing, responding, helping — that’s what makes us human beings and that’s what makes America great.”
Naples Lowe’s manager Andy Miller just moved to the area from North Carolina a month ago, so the whole situation was something for him to take in.
“They had needs that could not be met on their own,” he said of the Blancos. “Nothing about life is normal right now for anybody down here, so we’re going to do everything we can to make it as normal as we can.”
Johnson’s daughter’s curiosity lent additional perspective for the driver, who had worked with First Response after a deadly tornado in Oklahoma.
“It’s really tricky as a parent to let your children watch the news and understand what events are going on in the country or the world for that matter,” Johnson said.
“Genevieve is such a compassionate girl. She’s wanted to help since she heard about the first hurricane blowing into Houston. As this came about, it was something I wanted to bring her to see.
“We drove through a few neighborhood and saw a lot of devastation, and right away she was sad and talking about how it made her sad.
“I kind of shifted it and said we’re here for a reason. That’s why we’re down here. That’s why we’ve been to the stores. That’s why we’re going to this house.”
“I’ve always had this desire to give back and help those in need. Perspective is everything.” NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson, on assisting hurricane victims
Hardwig writes for the Naples (Fla.) Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network.