NILES — When Hurricane Florence made landfall on Friday, Sept. 14, cities across North and South Carolina were inundated with floodwaters. The hurricane, which was downgraded to a tropical depression, wreaked havoc in its wake as it lashed the southeastern part of the U.S. for several days. When people return to their homes, many will grapple with repairs that are likely to take at least several months to complete. With the aim to provide a little relief to those struggling, a Niles business is joining forces with other Michiana stores to gather basic necessities.

Healthy Habits, a shake shop, will be collecting donations for victims of the hurricane. Kendra Johnson, the business’ owner, invited people to drop off nonperishable food items, water, hygiene products, cleaning products, pet food and baby items. Donations can be brought to the shop, located at 305 E. Main St., during regular business hours. Items will be collected through Sunday, Oct. 21.

Johnson said she hopes that the donations will provide an opportunity for those in the Niles community to give back, even if it is to someone miles away.

“Just try to imagine if you were forced to leave your home and you went back and nothing was there,” Johnson said. “How you would [have to] start over. It is very overwhelming. It’s not like they can just run out to Walmart and grab whatever they need, because everyone is fighting for resources right now.”

Last year, Healthy Habits also collected donations for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, drawing a large response from the Niles community.

“The response last time was fantastic,” Johnson said.

This year, Johnson said the donations are also a bit personal, because she lived in Habelock, North Carolina for about eight months. Johnson said many of her friends who call Habelock home have been impacted. She has also seen news reports of the damage.

“Which is hard to see, [because] it’s like ‘oh, I used to eat there,’ or used to do this over there,” Johnson said.

After donations are collected, the items will be brought to the recovering areas, likely by a volunteer.

“We like doing that, because then we know it gets there,” Johnson said.

When Johnson opened Healthy Habits a little more than a year ago, her goal was to find ways to give back.

“We strive to do more than just sell you a shake or sell you a program or product,” Johnson said. “We really focus on helping out in all areas of life, whether we are able to contribute time or resources, just being able to be a helping hand.”

Healthy Habits is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Donations can also be dropped off at a number of other shake shops in the area. For a full list of participating businesses, those interested can visit facebook.com/pg/healthyhabitsniles/posts/?ref=page_internal.