photo by NCDOT on Flickr
I admit it: I underestimated Sandy.
Sure, I watched the news leading up to the storm with fascination and anxiety, but I really didn’t grasp just how awful and life-changing this storm would be for people on the East Coast.
Nor did I anticipate the extent of the damage and the length of the clean-up. Two weeks after “superstorm Sandy” blasted the East Coast, I figured things would be getting better for families in the affected areas.
Unfortunately, what I’m hearing from people in parts of New Jersey, Long Island and other hard-hit areas, that’s not necessarily the case.
A few days ago my heart ached for a brand-new mom who took to Twitter to plead with the power company to get heat to her house so she could leave the hospital with her newborn.
At least that mom had a warm, dry place to care for her baby. Not everyone is so fortunate, and the trouble goes beyond lack of electricity. A friend of mine compared to a neighboring New Jersey community to a “war zone”, with residents literally helping one another survive. Others tell stories of empty grocery shelves, freezing and water-soaked homes.
What parent wants to be worrying about post-Sandy toxins polluting schools and soccer fields?
And as a mother who treasures creating memories with my family, I’m also pained by the loss of beloved, historic family vacation spots along the shore.
As reader Kathy Presnell shared on The Happiest Mom’s Facebook page, “The Jersey Shore is not Snookie and beer, it’s sunshine and sand, and lifelong memorable vacations. It’s collecting sea glass, and fireworks over the roller coasters. It’s changed forever. Some places just washed out into the ocean. People’s forever homes destroyed.”
- This spreadsheet offers an extensive, up-to-date list of needs in New Jersey along with contact information.
- Cool Mom Picks offers a long list of ways to help, some of which are family- and mom-focused. I’m planning to make a donation to Baby Buggy, which supplies babies in need with diapers and other essential supplies. They have a Hurricane Sandy relief page set up where you can easily donate anything from a pack of diapers to a Pack-and-Play.
- Here is a list of relief efforts specific to Staten Island, which was particularly hard-hit by Sandy.
- Almost every New Jersey resident I’ve asked has pointed to the New Jersey Relief Fund as a good way to help.
- Pigtail Pals offers some great ideas for helping out, including some grassroots mom-to-mom efforts (like a woman offering freezer space to pumping moms).
As Sandy becomes “old news” for those of us living in areas comfortably removed from its effects, it’s only too easy to get so distracted by the busy-ness of life that we forget how much fellow moms (and their kids) are still struggling. Let’s challenge ourselves to stay aware by paying attention to these stories and providing whatever kind of help we’re able.
Do you have any organizations or causes you’d like us to know about? Or just want to give an update on what conditions are like in your area or how Sandy is affecting your family? Please let us know in the comments below. I will plan to keep updating my list of ways to help above and if there’s enough response, may share your stories in a future post.
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Our parish said there will be a special collection next week to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy. I don’t know if all Catholic churches are doing this next week, or if it is on a diocesan level or what-anyone else hear anything about that?
It also might be worth trying to direct some of our Christmas charitable efforts to the coasts (we generally do the local angel tree type things, but families affected by Sandy may be in even greater need of Christmas assistance with gifts and warm weather apparel than local families this year!)
Good to know! I think this year we might increase our holiday giving to make sure that another family has a nice Christmas…even though it might mean scaling ours back quite a bit. We have everything we need, and most of what we want, anyway.
As a mother who was affected by Hurricane Sandy (the basement of my townhome flooded, destroying my kitchen, dining area, laundry, and utilities…back to the laundromat we go!), I just want to say thank you for your ideas. As my similarly-impacted neighbor and I were lamenting last night, we are stuck “in between.” We appreciate all the work of the Red Cross, but they serve a population that is truly displaced so their work doesn’t impact me or the people I know.
Rather, it is the people who share hot meals and even hotter showers (because cooking in a toaster oven and showering at the gym can get tired fast!!), the people who offer to help me tear up tile, the friends who brought over boxes and dehumidifiers and shop vacs and mini fridges, the playdates offered to entertain my children. THAT is the help we need (along with better flood insurance coverage…).
Thank you for finding those services that can help the people who lost a lot, but are focused on rebuilding and keeping their life going. For those services that help replace the things that are a pain to replace (like a car seat your child is ALMOST out of). For pointing out the need for things like freezer space. THIS is what helps us. Connections with others who understand that we’re stuck with a lot of bad luck, but with some help from our friends (both real and virtual), we’ll all get back on our feet.
Stay warm and dry!!
Thank you for weighing in, Christine! I can imagine how frustrating it would be to be “in between” – yes, you’re alive and not starving, but still facing hardships for possibly a long time to come. Here is wishing you the small comforts that make life more livable (and for the reminder not to take my hot shower for granted!)
Thank you for your recent post about hurricane Sandy and those who continue to find comfort through great people reaching out.
Sometimes being so far removed we search for ways to help those struggling so far away. Your list was wonderful.
My family and I are kicking-off a Comfort Sandy’s Kids Movement and would love for you to post if you think it would be a worthy cause for your followers to be involved in.
Basically we hope to get 10,000 blankets and beanies to donate to kids and families that have been displaced by hurricane Sandy, 1/2 at the end of November and the other by Dec. 15th.
You can follow one of the 3 links below – one is mine and the other two, two of my daughters, and they will all explain what we are trying to do. We have a delivery service standing by to ship the blankets & beanies, and we have several people on the east coast standing by to distribute them.
http://e3liz.blogspot.com/
http://www.carlyjoporter.blogspot.com/
http://zachandtarabrough.blogspot.com/
Giving is always fun and of course makes our hearts grow by focusing on others instead of ourselves. Just a few more hoping to bring comfort and help.
Thanks so much for your consideration.
Liz Porter
Liz, thank you for providing these resources! I will add them to my list soon.