Hurricane Sandy Relief Ride - Part 3

As some of you may know we've been heading to the Rockaways and Staten Island (Roy aka Rthuey) to deliver supplies/donations to the victims of the storm.

My first run to the Rockaways was with my wife in our truck, The second was with a few guys from ADV Rider on our bikes.... I would like to do a third run this Friday (11/23) combining both bikes and cages.

I am trying to find out which is the best location to pick up supplies and meet. Right now there are 3 locations we are looking into: 1. 520 Clinton (Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew) 2. Astoria Recovers/ Matrix Gym, and 3. Flushing Town Hall.

I have a call into the church in Brooklyn and Flushing Town Hall but have not heard back from them yet.

The plan is to meet at one of these 3 locations, pick up supplies and volunteers (if room is available in cages), deliver to the Rockaways or somewhere on the south shore. Ted (GridCrosser) had mentioned going to Island Park.

We would probably meet around 9am and head back around 4pm, possibly stopping somewhere in Astoria for coffee and BS.

We'll keep you posted as to where to meet and time. Let us know if you are interested in joining us.

John

Just got a call from one of the churches in Brooklyn (St Jacobi 5406 4th Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11220).

We can pickup supplies and volunteers on Friday, Nov 23 starting at 9am.

If you can't make it to Far Rockaway but would like to donate some items here is a list of things they need:
Canned/non-perishable food, White vinegar, Peroxide, Borax, Air mattresses, AAA batteries, Medical Supplies, Pink spray paint, Flashlights, Carbon monoxide detectors, Cleaning liquids and supplies, Sponges and rags, Milk, Work gloves, Cough drops (adult), Can/boxed juice, Gallon Ziplock Bags, Cleaning Hardware: Brooms, Flat Shovels, Mops, baby/toddler food & formula, duct and scotch tape, toiletries (including feminine hygiene products), can openers.

Construction Needs: Headlamps, Heavy duty contractor trash bags, Crowbars, industrial mop buckets (hundreds), gas, generators, TYVEK suits, gifted vans and box trucks, construction grade halogen lighting, Demolition tools: pry bars, hammers, sledge hammers, buckets, 3mil construction trash bags, Construction tools AND storage NEARBY the recovery sites. Plywood, screws, power-tools, dry wall, spackle, spackling tools, paint and brushes. We DON’T need: Diapers, Bleach, ANY Clothing, or Blankets
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Bump

50/50 for me. Family friends in from out of town and I'm playing tour guide. I will suggest we all go and help out on Friday and see what the response is.... or if I've had enough of them by tomorrow night I'll bale and join you guys.

I'm out...unexpectedly have to be at work.

My wife and youngest daughter (Claudia) accompanied me to the Rockaways (St. Gertrude's Church) to hand out donations we received from Home employees and supplies we picked up from Occupy Sandy (St Jacobi) in Brooklyn. Our oldest daughter (Gaby) could not make it because she had a 30 page paper to turn in on Wednesday.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving dinner since we knew we had to wake up early and needed our rest. We stopped by St. Jacobi (5406 4th Ave) in Brooklyn and loaded the truck with more supplies/donations. The church is being used as a hub for the volunteers from Occupy Sandy (yes, they are part of Occupy Wall Street). They were very well organized and had a ton of donations coming in from every part of the country. The folks loading their pickup next to us came all the way from Syracuse to deliver supplies and help volunteer in the Rockaways, Long Island and Staten Island. <o></o>
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While we were waiting for our supplies we helped unload a 14foot box truck with donations from the Red Cross (bleach, water and diapers). <o></o>
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(Claudia carrying supplies to our vehicle)<o></o>​

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A young lady approached us and asked if she could get a ride to the Rockaways. After introducing ourselves and loading the truck we headed over to southern Queens.<o></o>
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(Claudia and Miriam at St. Camilas donation hub)<o></o>​

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We dropped off our passenger at Beach 113th St and headed to 38th St. Claudia had never been to the Rockaways and could not believe the devastation (remember, this was 3 weeks after the storm hit and they already cleaned up the place). It was already noon so we decided to head over to the beach and have lunch. We pulled onto the white sand and found a bench that was still attached to the boardwalk even though the wooden platform had been lifted off its foundation and moved a couple of hundred feet. We shared a chicken grilled sandwich, some quinoa with tofu and a Pellegrino (not bad for 3 people)!<o></o>
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(Claudia and I sharing some lunch)<o></o>​

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We walked on the beach and took some pics before heading back to the truck.<o></o>​

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(Kinda reminded me of the Fun House but with no walls)<o></o>​

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(I know I dropped those keys somewhere around here)<o></o>​

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(Relaxing at the Rockaway beach)<o></o>​

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(Local taking some time out playing with his dog on beach)<o></o>​

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(Local kids playing on the beach)<o></o>​

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(Even the Rover got a chance to relax on the sand blown in from the beach)<o></o>​

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We headed over to St. Gertrude’s where we unloaded our donations and started helping out sorting all the supplies. Miriam, Claudia and other volunteers helped distribute the supplies while I greeted the crowd. <o></o>
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(Claudia and volunteers ready to give out donations/supplies)<o></o>​

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I think I had the best job because I had a chance to talk to all the folks who came to pick up supplies and practice my comedy act. After two or three people complained that my humor sucked they asked me to leave........ just kidding!!!! I had a great time talking to everyone and hearing their stories of how they survived the storm. Most of the people in this area of the peninsula are from different backgrounds, there we folks from Haiti, Jamaica, Egypt, Mexico Ireland, etc. They were all very grateful for the supplies and for the volunteers giving up their time to lend a hand. Also handed out blankets that the Red Cross and other organizations had donated.<o></o>
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While we were there a news reporter from Trinidad came to interview the organizer of the donation hub. Don't know which station and if we'll ever get a chance to see the interview but the microphone had a number 7 on it.<o></o>
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Someone had donated some leftover turkey dinner from the night before so we setup a table and served warm food while people waited in line for supplies.<o></o>
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They closed the doors at 4pm and we stuck around for a while to help clean up. Overall it was a GREAT day, just wish we had more supplies and time to help everyone.<o></o>
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A few items Miriam and Claudia said they needed:<o></o>
• More cleaning products but in small packages, it’s hard to carry two 1-gallon bottles of bleach<o></o>
• More toothbrushes and toothpaste<o></o>
• More fresh vegetables – Miriam had noticed two large bags of carrots and boxes of broccoli in the church kitchen, left from Thanksgiving,.. needless to say they went in just a few minutes<o></o>
• More diapers EXCEPT in size 3<o></o>
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I noticed a lady with a 3 wheeled baby stroller (it used to be a 4 wheel stroller) and asked her what happened to the fourth wheel, she said it fell off so I took down her number and promised her I would get her a good working stroller. I also asked her if she needed anything else and she told me although she had electricity they did not have heat and they needed a crib. I took down her number and told her I would call before the weekend to make arrangements to drop off some supplies. So, if anybody has any leads on a stroller or crib please let me know. I’ve been searching Craigslist and found one or two but haven’t heard back from the sellers.<o></o>
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Thanks again everyone for your help!!!!<o></o>​

bump, good on ya