An overview of local Hurricane Sandy relief efforts

Sandy-Sundays

With the horror movie that was being played live on our TV screens and social media, it wasn’t any surprise that ad-hoc local groups formed and organized to shore up relief and rebuilding efforts for Hurricane Sandy victims. One of these, based in New Paltz, is Sandy-Sundays, which is being organized by former Village of New Paltz deputy mayor Rebecca Rotzler, along with some co-workers from the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and all who are willing to help.

For the third Sunday in a row, Rotzler and co-workers, New Paltz residents and students have been carpooling to Midland Beach in Staten Island, which, according to Rotzler, had the “highest per capita death rate” for all Hurricane Sandy victims. Their goal? To help homeowners and tenants prevent further decay and destruction of their homes while they wait hopefully for insurance claims and/or Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money.

“We go in there and tear out all of the soaked flooring, drywall, ceilings — anything that could cause mold and rot to grow in the house — to give them the chance of rebuilding,” said Rotzler. It’s not a pretty dropoff scene of pasta and beans, but instead a volunteer work crew that goes into devastated neighborhoods and helps families gut their houses to the studwalls so that they can have a chance to rebuild one day. “One part of our volunteer crew tears down rotted sheetrock, flooring and ceilings, while the other part takes the debris out to the street. We have a lovely friend at True Value Hardware in New Paltz who is from Midland Beach, and we’re doing a fundraiser there for basic equipment needs: hammers, nail guns, plastic sheeting…”

Like the firefighters, Rotzler could not begin to describe the toll that Hurricane Sandy has taken in Midland Beach on Staten Island. “Everywhere you look there are streets filled with piles of personal belongings, families and neighbors mourning the loss of a loved one, boats strewn in front yards, houses totaled and burned to the ground.”

This renew-and-rebuild crew has had incredible support and is looking for more workers, as well as drivers to transport them down to Staten Island on Sundays. If you are interested in helping to work, call Rotzler at (914) 616-9455, as she and her compatriots are always willing to take on more workers. If you want to donate to the Sunday-Sandy cause, go to True Value in New Paltz and donate much-needed items.

Other local relief efforts

The Rosendale Recreation Center, located at 1055 Route 32 in Rosendale, is also a dropoff center. This is a focused relief effort, and only these listed items will be accepted: sleeping bags, tarps, propane heaters, bleach, work gloves, batteries, flashlights, safety goggles, dust masks, rubber gloves, duct tape, manual can openers, brooms, mops, hand/foot warmers, rakes, shovels, paper towels, heavy-duty garbage bags and basic first aid items. Donations must be new and unwrapped; yard tools and brooms are the only exception.

Items need to be left under the pavilion, and will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday only, through Friday, Nov. 30. You can find more info on Facebook at Hurricane Sandy Rosendale Relief Effort.

Another great resource for people looking to volunteer is Ulster Corps, a coordinated effort to connect volunteers with organizations across our county. Visit the website at www.ulstercorps.org or the UlsterCorps Facebook page for updated listings of ways to help with Sandy efforts and to find information about the myriad ways in which volunteers of all ages can give their time and skills to nonprofit agencies, civic and religious organizations, businesses, schools and municipalities.

There are so many impacted and as many with ties to the areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Allison Benkert of Highland drove to Massapequa on the South Shore of Long Island with her husband to bring jugs full of gas to her sister and nephew, who were “freezing and still out of power, with water in their basement and living rooms.”

A Massapequa homegirl, Benkert said that regardless of what all of us saw on TV, “To be there was a different experience. We turned off the turnpike, which you could equate to 9W, and saw hundreds of people standing on line with their gas cans for gas at stations that said, ‘No Gas!’”

In her hometown neighborhood, Benkert said that she saw her parents’ “best friends’ house burnt to the ground, along with many of our childhood neighbors’ homes. It was so sad and sickening. These weren’t rich people; these were blue-collar workers, and now they have nothing.”

She had traveled down to give her sister and nephew cans of gas, as their electricity had not come back on and below-freezing temperatures were setting in. “My nephew has videos of him and others in a canoe, paddling down the streets of my childhood neighborhood, attempting to get medicine for a neighbor who could not get out of his home. It was so upsetting and heartwrenching, yet beautiful at the same time to see so many people doing what they could do to help. A lot more assistance is needed to rebuild those devastated areas.”

To help, donate or learn more, go to several websites including www.redcross.org/hurricane-sandy, contact Rotzler or go online for various local relief efforts. Your help means the world.