Hurricane Sandy left scars on New York and New Jersey that will take a long time to heal. In heavily ravaged areas such as Staten Island’s Tottenville and New Dorp beach, much of New Jersey’s shoreline and Queens’ Rockaway beach, aid is needed desperately as the cold settles in, posing a threat to the many displaced residents.
If you don’t have the ability to get to these areas and help by volunteering your time, you’re probably wondering what’s the best way to provide assistance. We’ve scoured the Internet and spoken to resources to find a number of great organizations to support in the aftermath of this devastating storm.
NYC Food Truck Association Indiegogo Campaign (@nycfoodtruck)
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the New York City Food Truck Association (NYCFTA) worked with Jetblue to deliver over 20,000 meals to those in NY and NJ without power. Inspired by this first round of giving, NYCFTA decided to reach out to the community to raise funds in order to deliver daily warm meals to the most severely affected areas on the coasts of Staten Island, Queens, & Brooklyn.
Here is how NYCFTA has helped on the ground so far:
On Friday, November 2, Jetblue gave out hot meals to 11,000 people without power in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn via 12 sponsored trucks.
On Saturday, November 3, Jetblue distributed hot meals to 10,000 people in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Hoboken, NJ, via 11 sponsored trucks.
On Sunday, November 4, Jetblue distributed hot meals to 4,000 people in the Rockaways via four food trucks. NYC Food Truck Association raised money so fast during its last promotion, they were able to get two trucks out to deliver 1,00 more meals the same day.
On Monday November 5, they had eight trucks out to distribute hot meals to 3,000 people in Staten Island, the Rockaways, and Redhook.
The Red Cross
The Red Cross is focused on getting supplies, meals and water into affected areas. Since the beginning of the Sandy relief effort more than 5,350 Red Cross workers have been assigned to operations from Virginia to Rhode Island, with the majority in Greater New York and throughout New Jersey. The organization has provided more than 92,500 overnight shelter stays in more than 250 Red Cross shelters. More than 1 million meals and snacks have been served and approximately 60,200 relief items such as clean-up kits and hygiene kits have been distributed.
Staten Island Recovers (@SIrecovers or @OccupySandy)
A community-powered disaster recovery site started by the OccupyNYC folks, Staten Island Recovers provides daily opportunities to volunteer at local sites in need, or to provide necessity items (not funding) to those affected in Staten Island.
The Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties
The FoodBank is providing food and other disaster relief for people impacted by Hurricane Sandy at the Jersey Shore in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. In just the first few days, the FoodBank provided more than 33,000 meals to food pantries, churches, senior centers, shelters and other organizations serving those hardest hit by the Hurricane.
Feature photo by Rob Gross/flickr