Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive

Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive

We know the devastation. We have heard the terrible accounts from our closest friends and family of the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.   The grief in the faces of our family and friends who have seen the things that they have worked and strived for all their lives ‘gone’ in a matter of minutes was heart wrenching.  I have a personal story too.

I picked my brother up from Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn Sunday afternoon the 28^th of October.  He insisted on staying in his Far Rockaway apartment to make sure the pumps work in his basement apartment.  I took his wife and his dog to his daughter’s house.  He insisted on staying behind to tend to his apartment and look after his cats.

The police came and knocked on his door at around 11:15pm and told him “get the fuck out”, you see he lived in evacuation zone ‘A’ just yards from the beach.  It took him a day to get back to his apartment after the storm.  My brother could not get in because the water was at the first floor of the house he was living in.  Several days later when the door was opened the bodies of the cats came floating out.  The smell was horrific.

There are numerous other personal stories and accounts.  Eric and Corky lost everything.  They came in to Game ON and were glad to be somewhere warm and to be in the company of friends.  They were glad to be alive, just glad they still had each other.  The pained expressions and the post traumatic stress is now setting in with all who have suffered and are still suffering.

It’s easy to see scars on arms, legs hands or missing limbs, it is not so easy to see the scalded souls of those still living in broken cold homes, without electricity, without heat, staying in a place that is now reduced to the reality of a third world existence.  Many in homes passed down from one generation to the next.  

Men, women and children, shivering in the cold of a broken world that was their piece of the American Dream, now become their Long Island nightmare.

All souls who have endured and still enduring have but one question…what now?

On Friday, November 16^th, Game ON is having a relief drive for the survivors of Hurricane Sandy and the Nor’easter that compounded the bad situation, making it worse.  

We as friends, family and fellow survivors are coming together to bring the following items for the personal relief and sustenance of our fellow Long Islanders, these are the things we are gathering:

Blankets, canned goods, hygiene items and products (soap, toothbrush, feminine products), coats, backpacks, socks, shoes, underclothes, shirts, pants, t-shirts, lingerie, gloves and winter clothing of all types.  

These items will be distributed to those in need!  Remember, there but for the grace of God, this bitterness could have been yours…so help any way you can.

A concert is also being planned for later this month.  Details will be posted soon.

Thank You and God Bless Us All!

DNC for Jimmy