Post-Sandy: How to Help

Here are three excellent resources for New Yorkers and people around the world, who are wondering how to help with Hurricane Sandy relief and recovery. Please check out these websites for volunteer opportunities, lists of needed supplies, and many other ways to help. Volunteers will be needed throughout the week, as many New Yorkers go back to school or work.  Donations of money are also needed.

Occupy Sandy Relief

“Occupy Sandy is a coordinated relief effort to help distribute resources & volunteers to help neighborhoods and people affected by Hurricane Sandy. We are a coalition of people & organizations who are dedicated to implementing aid and establishing hubs for neighborhood resource distribution. Members of this coalition are from Occupy Wall Street, 350.org, recovers.org and interoccupy.net.”

Occupy Sandy seems to be doing an excellent job of organizing volunteers and getting help where it is most needed.

NYCService.org

This is a city initiative, founded in 2009 by Mayor Bloomberg, that connects people looking to help with organizations and opportunities throughout the city. Right now, of course, the focus is on recovering from Sandy. This very clear and easy-to-access webpage has a growing list of links to donation sites, neighborhood and park clean-ups, blood centers, the Red Cross, and much more.

The city is also looking for poll workers on Tuesday.

The Red Hook Initiative

“As many of you know, Red Hook, Brooklyn is one of New York’s communities most devastated by Hurricane Sandy. In response to its impacts, The Red Hook Initiative immediately diverted its efforts to serve as a de facto center for local relief and support efforts – especially for the 5,000 public housing residents without power or heat but also for local residents and small businesses whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by this storm – so many of whom have supported our efforts in the past.
We are currently providing emergency supplies, serving hot meals, providing access to power and communications, helping to provide information and access to necessary services, and coordinating community volunteer efforts. The situation is very much in flux and we expect to adjust our role to respond to evolving needs; meanwhile, all donations received at this time will go to support these and similar efforts. Thank you for your support – we will keep you updated on the progress.”

And don’t forget we still need to get out the vote on Tuesday November 6th. How are people going to vote in areas without power? Whatever solution is arrived at, help will be needed.

President Obama’s immediate response to the devastation wrought by the storm was swift, decisive and helpful, and he may even start uttering the dread words “climate change.”  We need new ways of thinking, building, and restructuring our cities, if we hope to avoid much worse in the future.

Explore posts in the same categories: 2012, Fall, In the City, Seasons

Tags: how to help nyc, post sandy clean-up, volunteer nyc sandy

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.