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 28th
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 16th, 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
