Ok, I'm taking a moment out of my regularly scheduled blog to raise some awareness.
We all know how hard hit Staten Island and parts of New Jersey were by Sandy. One of the people I follow on twitter, the actor Theo Rossi, lives in Staten Island and his tweets have been like a play by play of the devastation. I've been shocked to learn that a lot of the help the people of Staten Island received was from themselves. It's actually pretty inspiring and a testament to the power of social media. They've tweeted locations of base camps. They've tweeted what things people need, where people are giving away food, messages of encouragement to each other. I've been touched by the strength in Staten Island.
In general, when you think of New York you think of tough people who can be rough around the edges, but now, when I think of New York I think of the heart of the people in Staten Island.
Watching the pictures and tweets flow in requesting help and showing the absolute destruction, I knew I HAD to help. I had to do something, anything. I've felt that way during these kinds of disasters before. If I didn't have three kids I would be one of the first to volunteer. I'm a hands on kind of gal. This time, though, was somehow different. One of my closest friends grew up in Jersey and we spent a couple of nights looking at pictures and I was just amazed at the power of destruction the storm unleashed. In some areas the beach was in the town. It was insane to look at. I can't imagine what it must be like to live through. So, between that and the tweets that Staten Island was receiving very little help, I wanted to take action.
I spent one whole day on hold with various charities in my area trying to find someone who was sending clothes and supplies out to New York, only to find none of them, including the local and state capital branches of the Red Cross, were sending anything but volunteers. I knew several people who wanted to donate things if I could find a way to get it DIRECTLY to Staten Island. I posted my struggle on facebook and my friend Bridgett sent me to a facebook page that was posting addresses accepting donations. I was elated. I went to the site and found mainly New Jersey addresses, so I posted what I was looking for and shortly after received an address that, much like Dori, I will always remember.
I started posting that address EVERYWHERE. My facebook, my twitter, anyone who asked, I gave it to them. As I saw links posted that offered a way to donate directly I passed them along. I decided I was going to send hand knitted hats in my care package. I wanted to send something that was hand made, something that says, hey, I took the time to put my heart into this because I thought you should know someone really cares you're having a hard time. I posted on Twitter that I was going to knit some hats for my box and a friend decided she would do the same. I was super excited, she even made a hashtag #Kinits4SINY .
Now, I'm asking you, why don't you knit for Staten Island? Recovery is going to take months, you have time. I bet the person who's head is warmed while they reroof a house that is just being finished in February will be glad you took the time to put your heart into some yarn and make a hat.
The address to send supplies to Staten Island is
Staten Island Recreational Association
599 Fr Capodanno Blvd.
Staten Island, NY
10305
Attn: Megan Delmar
They need cleaning supplies, underwear, batteries, tools, basic stuff. If you use it on a daily basis, they probably need it.
Here are a couple of links to fundraisers set up for people who lost their homes:
http://gogetfunding.com/project/chris-ostrow-hurricane-sandy-relief-fund
http://www.giveforward.com/forsterfamily?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fb_wall&utm_campaign=vanity_page&og_action=hug&fb_ref=434154
Share this blog with your friends and family. Heck, share this blog with people you don't like very much. Lets make a difference no matter where we call home.
Keep Staten Island in your hearts.
Edited to include www.statenstrong.org a non profit for the people, by the people!
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