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Two Easy Ways to Help Sandy Victims Now

Bella_mezzo

Bella_mezzo

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
5,760
I know that it can seem so big that nothing we do can help, but truly every little bit can make a difference...Here are two ways that take 2 seconds and cumulatively will have a big impact.

1. Donate to the Red Cross: www.redcross.org

2. Send Diapers/Wipes to Covenant House in Newark, NJ (serving families from throughout NJ): http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/3LES7MA5NDRM2
 
And if you are in NYC, the Bowery mission which serves the homeless population of Lower Manhattan just posted their list:
http://www.bowery.org/media-news/presidents-update/hurricane-sandy-bringing-out-best/

Current Needs
•Financial donations -- We are serving three times as many as normal, and we will need to restock food and resources once we have power.
•Gasoline for our generators that are providing emergency power -- Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street), 45-51 Avenue D (between 4th and 5th Streets), or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
•Blankets at The Bowery Mission Transitional Center -- Please deliver to 45-51 Avenue D (between 4th and 5th Streets) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
•Sweatshirts at The Bowery Mission -- Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
•Large and XL coats and hoodies -- Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
•Men's jeans sizes 34-50 -- Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
•Men's boots sizes 8-13 -- Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
•Pantry items such as sugar, oatmeal, coffee, rice, potatoes -- Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
Volunteer Opportunities:
Help provide food for 200 people at a time (make and/or get and drop off at the Mission - 227 Bowery)

•Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and drop them off
•Trays of cooked food, ready to be served
•Large amounts of Gatorade and Iced Tea - Currently only serving water
 
double post
 
The commentary on the New York Times website is definitely reflecting the strain people are under. I cut and paste this information with links on where to help. It looks like residents are banding together and taking matters into their own hands :appl: .

"I greatly fear old people in downtown elevator buildings, and others in the LES projects, are doing without drinking water. CAAAV reports no city authorities and no FEMA outreach as no water and no electricity goes into its third day.

http://caaav.org/update-on-caaavs-efforts-post-hurricane-sandy-volunteer-and-donate

The Bowery Boogie got a report of an 80+ woman screaming for help until a neighbor in the pitch black stairwell heard her. Today, three days into the blackout, twelve volunteers showed up at Seward House to see if any of the old people are still alive.

http://www.boweryboogie.com/2012/11/relief-efforts-for-seward-park-seniors-underway/

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs was the only building in lower Manhattan with electricity during the storm.

I know who I'm giving money to, and it's not Goldman Sachs."
 
Thanks so much for this info Bella!! It feels good to help in any way one can! :appl:
 
Good info to know. Thanks. :appl:
 
You can donate and Jet Blue will match your Red Cross contribution. :wavey: :wavey:

http://jetbluegives.org/?ed_rid=XTG1ARG-37C4O-X63YJL-YZCB7G-2VNS3-v1&ed_mid=267563

Plus they will give you 6 JetBlue (frequent flyer) points for every dollar you donate.

I'm really surprised that the Red Cross isn't getting water out down in lower NYC. That's all they did for us when we had our hurricane. Food was donated by the 2 local grocery stores, and they cooked it and fed us.

The most remarkable thing was the South Carolina Baptist Men's Association sent down a tractor-trailer with showers inside. That really touched my heart, they knew exactly what we needed since our water wasn't safe.
 
As far as the Red Cross... Multiple folks I have spoken to in both NYC and NJ insist they are no where to be seen! The food distributions and gathering of things is being done by neighborhoods banding together. The Red Cross in my experience here in FL is a bit of a joke. They do very little and get lots of press. I always donate directly to a church, school hospital I know will use the money. Down here in FL we have worked a deal with our local Pack n ship place and he is giving us a very low rate to ship blankets and clothing to a hospital in NJ we have a contact at. We are also collecting money to donate to a group in Breezy Point.
We have a friend at Delta who is looking to see if the can help. The links at the beginning of this post are great!
 
Eliseteach! :wavey: Exactly. I'm so tired of the Red Cross getting all the glory and money, when they really don't do very much. At least in my experience, they don't.

HERE'S A MAP FROM GOOGLE SHOWING PLACES THAT NEED SUPPLIES AND HELP IN NY

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200304926652438693806.0004cd7334cea4f3d271d&msa=0&ll=40.785091%2C-

73.929062&spn=0.124907%2C0.300751

Also, a list of local churches, etc., their addresses and lists

http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/

Or just go on twitter, they have a hash tag. Let's all boo those that are trying to make a buck

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SandyRelief&src=hash

Also the mayor has a fund going

https://www.nyc.gov/html/fund/html/donate/donate.shtml

ANOTHER STORM next week. Cold North'easter! Send blankets, coats!
 
And with all that NYC has going on the Marathon is still a go!!! However they are calling it a Race to Recover and are donating $ 26.20 per runner to relief efforts. Nice but I think the tents, generators and free t shirts not to mention those Mylar blankets could be put to much better use!!!
 
Elisateach|1351884540|3297503 said:
And with all that NYC has going on the Marathon is still a go!!! However they are calling it a Race to Recover and are donating $ 26.20 per runner to relief efforts. Nice but I think the tents, generators and free t shirts not to mention those Mylar blankets could be put to much better use!!!
Click to expand...

It's terrible that Mayor Bloomberg is going ahead with this. It most definitely is taking resources away from those in need- absolutely! The generators are there for the race to continue while none for those that are without anything. I could go on and on but it's too upsetting. I cannot believe what the mayor said about those who died and how they would want us to go ahead with the marathon. Huh?? :nono: What a load of crap. Not to mention hotels are all filled up with people staying for the marathon. People seriously need help in NYC and the mayor really is full of crap when it comes to this issue. I mean, if you were here and saw how people are suffering you would see what the real story is. :(sad

ETA: and yeah, the Red Cross is nowhere in sight in many many many areas. Another full of it organization for so many. Yeah, they might help some but they forget about so so many. Lots of glitz and glamour for their image with less substance IMO. :(
 
Just an update: they cancelled the marathon! Sorry for the runners but.,..
 
Elisateach|1351892266|3297578 said:
Just an update: they cancelled the marathon! Sorry for the runners but.,..
Click to expand...

I was so glad to hear this! The idea of tying up all those resources, smushing more people into these affected areas...it just seemed too crazy to be real!
 
yeah, the red cross seems to be MIA right now...

They are consolidating the shelters to prepare for the reopening of school Monday, so the shelters that are staying open are getting overloaded very fast.

If you are in NYC or other areas that were hard hit consider donating clothes, ready to eat food, powered drink mixes, bottled water juice or gatorade, toiletries, coats and boots, shoes, and small books/toys to neighbors who are going to the areas hardest hit and/or to the shelters directly. We sent a lot of bags over today and they were very appreicated (our local shelter swelled from 150-600+ this afternoon :eek: )
 
Elisateach|1351892266|3297578 said:
Just an update: they cancelled the marathon! Sorry for the runners but.,..
Click to expand...

Yes, I think Mayor Bloomberg should personally reimburse the runners their airfare and hotel expenses. Because of his decision to have the race in the face of all the devastation here he now cost them a lot more than if he had canceled on Tuesday as he should have.
Relieved the marathon is finally canceled and hope the city can put all its energy to helping those in need.
 
Seriously, if he just would have made that call on Mon/Tues it would have been so much better for everyone!

Here's another link to support a group that is working on the ground in NYC: http://hopemob.org/sandy
 
and it sounds like the red cross is finally starting to get some relief efforts underway on Staten Island! (finally!)
 
I was watching the musical event on television last night and you can text Redcross to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
 
Thank you for posting this, Bella.

What would be the best way for me to contribute, from outside the US? Would it be to make a donation to Red Cross?
 
thank you Bella; I am going to send some stuff to the Covenant House
 
:appl: :appl: :appl: I am always amazed by the generous spirits and caring hearts of the PS family!!!

Phoenix-I am not sure the best way to donate from outside the US--the Red Cross is always a straightforward option and they do seem to finally be getting some work done on the ground here. There is also a lot of resentment as it's taken a while for them to do so and they are stretched so thin that they are not yet really effective. Most of the relief work so far is still being done by grassroots efforts/local non-profits/people's friends, family& neighbors, etc.

I got a list of ways to volunteer with specific grass roots efforts in my inbox today and from that list is really sounds like in NY Staten Island is still the most in need and getting the least amount of services (Long Island and Queens were very hard hit but relief efforts seem to be getting underway more effectively there). Staten Island is still trying to get some basic infrastructure in place so I am not yet aware of direct on the ground places where monetary donations can be used.

Organizations that I have experience with and that have a reputation of using donations wisely are:

Bowery Mission (www.bowery.org)

Hope Mob an all volunteer 100% of donations go directly to relief and they are mobilizing in all kinds of great grassroots ways throughout NY NJ and other hard hit areas by Sandy (http://hopemob.org/how_it_works)

Covenant House in Newark (http://www.covenanthousenj.org/)

In addition, Robinhood Foundation reactivated their relief fund http://www.robinhood.org/rhsandy--this might be a straightforward option that is a little more effective than the Red Cross (their board underwrites their operating expenses so 100% of funds raised go directly to relief and they managed a similar fund after 9/11)

I'll post more as I learn more.

If you are in NYC/NJ area and want to volunteer in person, let me know and I can post those too...
 
HI:

I am sad and more than a little surprised to hear these statements about the Red Cross--they were the organization to whom I was planning to donate! Margaret Mead was right.....

cheers--Sharon
 
missy|1352071892|3298707 said:
There are also animal organizations needing donations due to the hurricane. Best Friends and Animal Haven are 2 good animal rescues needing help.

https://secure.bluehost.com/~bestfri8/tinac/Files/110412_sandy.html

https://secure3.convio.net/ah/site/Donation2?idb=782051630&df_id=2400&2400.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=ejfa1ntu01.app334a
Click to expand...

YES! And please don't donate to the ASPCA or the Humane Society. Same thing - lots of publicity, lots of donations but the real work is done by grass roots local organizations. THE NJ SPCA is doing great work:
http://www.njspca.org/

Comedy fundraiser for pets and their families affected by Sandy:
https://www.facebook.com/events/425209990873081/

They're also posting great advice for NY/NJ residents like :
Under New York City Law:
• During times of evacuation, a cab driver may not turn down a fare who is bringing a pet along.
• An evacuation center must accept any pet as long as he/she is accompanied by a human and either leashed or in a carrier.
 
Bella,

Thank you for posting the details.

I won't make a donation to the Red Cross then. Perhaps the best way to do it is instead of donating a lump-sum, I should split the amount and donate various smaller amounts to the various organisations mentioned?

Also, Bella, are you in NY yourself? Any other NY/ NJ residents here please? Would it be at all possible for me to contact you directly and send you a wire so you could use that locally? I wish I could be there and lend a helping hand. (Not sure how to contact any one of you though - perhaps via a pre-loved ad?)
 
Thank you for posting the links re helping the pets, missy and webdiva. Really appreciate that.
 
Phoenix|1352133450|3299080 said:
Bella,

Thank you for posting the details.

I won't make a donation to the Red Cross then. Perhaps the best way to do it is instead of donating a lump-sum, I should split the amount and donate various smaller amounts to the various organisations mentioned?

Also, Bella, are you in NY yourself? Any other NY/ NJ residents here please? Would it be at all possible for me to contact you directly and send you a wire so you could use that locally? I wish I could be there and lend a helping hand. (Not sure how to contact any one of you though - perhaps via a pre-loved ad?)
Click to expand...


Phoenix,

The best way is to donate directly to either the Mayor's fund or Robin Hood, both honest charities that spend all they have on people that need it.

http://www.robinhood.org/ Ralph Lauren's foundation is donating millions to this agency

http://www.nyc.gov/html/fund/html/home/home.shtml The mayor's fund

Please don't wire it to random people, sweetie. . .
 
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