That Friday night we visited several shelters in Brooklyn and found out that they were no longer providing aid to Hurricane Sandy victims. The people at the shelters suggested that we travel to the hardest hit areas: Staten Island, the Rockaways, and Coney Island–areas where there was still a lot of need. According to the New York Times, most of the flooding and deaths from Hurricane Sandy occurred in these areas. Of the people who died from Hurricane Sandy in New York City, 34 of the 43 deaths were elderly residents on Staten Island.
On Saturday morning we met with local volunteer relief workers at the area’s Occupy Sandy headquarters. Occupy Sandy is a New York City-based disaster relief group of local citizens, humanitarians and tech-savvy volunteers that has been quick to to deliver relief supplies directly to Hurricane Sandy victims. When we arrived we saw a logistically well-organized relief effort being run by an Occupy Sandy volunteer group headed by a relief worker named Kelly. From what we understood, the Occupy Sandy group had volunteers working in different neighborhoods of the region’s storm ravaged areas. These volunteers worked with local resident councils who advised them on their most pressing needs. The councils then distributed the provided aid to their residents who made the requests. Many thanks goes to the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew for their incredible kindness in offering the Occupy Sandy group a safe and secure place from which to direct their volunteer disaster relief.
We
purchased relief supplies that were requested by the resident councils of two
areas devastated by extensive flooding: the low-income housing complex of Ocean
Towers on Coney Island and the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn. After
purchasing the relief supplies for the Ocean Towers complex, we delivered them
directly to their resident council. The supplies they requested included baby
food, diapers, and wipes, toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes
and feminine sanitary products, and cleaning supplies: mops, construction
gloves, sponges, garbage cans, construction garbage bags, bleach (for cleaning
the mold from the water surge); and school supplies such as pencils, crayons
and lined paper. And, we purchased non-perishable food items that were
requested such as canned soups, tuna fish, and stews. We then purchased
and delivered similar items requested by the resident council of the flood
damaged Red Hook neighborhood with the assistance of Occupy Sandy relief workers.
There are piles of ruined furniture and garbage from cleaning out water-damaged homes lining the streets in the coastal neighborhoods we visited.
It still amazes me as to how much aid is still needed even five weeks after a major disaster, especially for low income families with children and the elderly, in a major American city like New York.
There are piles of ruined furniture and garbage from cleaning out water-damaged homes lining the streets in the coastal neighborhoods we visited.
It still amazes me as to how much aid is still needed even five weeks after a major disaster, especially for low income families with children and the elderly, in a major American city like New York.
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