Jersey Strong on Veteran’s Day even after Sandy. #njsandy Photo comes from Anne Marie Gercke whose family got back into their LBI community to find this family home was too badly flooded to save.
Hi, I am about to post a giant list of who needs what in New Jersey post-Sandy. A lot of this is focused on North Jersey, but there are some South Jersey places mixed in.
The list came to me from a friend who is a writer in North Jersey and who was affected by the storm. She got the list via Jersey Shore Hurricane News on Facebook. If you need to contact Jersey Shore Hurricane News e-mail jerseyshorehurricanenews@ gmail.com or visit their page on Facebook for a number that accepts texts.
I am posting this here hoping it reaches people who want to help, but don’t know how. The holidays are upon us, so if local business owners exist who can offer to defray shipping costs for people in the event they want to ship goods to any of these locations, I hope you will pay it forward and step up and contact local media, etc to do so. I have to be honest, some I contacted declined regretfully because the economy is so bad for so many, they just can’t afford it.
For those of you I have seen holding fundraisers and food drives for Sandy victims, I hope this list will help you.
HOWEVER, I WILL NOTE THAT WHILE I TRUST THE SOURCE OF THIS INFORMATION, DON’T JUST SHIP OR DONATE, CALL OR CONTACT THESE ORGANIZATIONS TO FIND OUT WHAT THEIR NEEDS ARE – AFTER ALL IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, SOME NEEDS CHANGE DAILY.
I keep thinking of how hard this also must be on the children of New Jersey affected by this, so if you contact any of these people to donate, find out what the kids need. After all, Christmas and Hannukkah are coming in addition to Thanksgiving next week. I think New Jersey needs an Operation Santa Claus for kids and families this Christmas in New Jersey, only I do not know how to make it happen. I hope some who read this post will know how to make it happen and CAN and DO make it happen.
And do not send as a “donation” the garbage you can’t give away in your house. That includes dirty clothes – as incredulous as you might be at the suggestion, it is actually happening. And having helped run a charitable donation drive a few years ago that actually earned me and others a congressional commendation from Jim Gerlach, I can tell you how awkward it is to be collecting for people in need and you have people donating things that are unusable and then you have to in essence pay to dispose of someone else’s trash. I am sorry if that sounds harsh, but please follow the rule of thumb that it be something you personally could use if the tables were turned. The Asbury Park Press also seems to be very helpful in guiding people onto how to help.
Another thing, there is a whole population that is displaced in parts of New Jersey that you are not hearing about in the news. Those who qualify as special classes and may be disadvantaged emotionally, mentally, and/or physically. A lot of these people not only depend on public assistance, but live in subsidized housing on and individual as well as in groups.
I also noticed that finally someone in New Jersey government woke up and realized that mothballed Fort Monmouth could indeed be re-opened to provide some interim housing to homeless New Jersey residents post-Sandy.
Fort Monmouth to house hundreds of evacuees
10:23 PM, Nov. 12, 2012
New Jersey officials were readying a shuttered military base to temporarily house residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy….Fort Monmouth will be taken out of mothballs and could house 400 to 600 families. Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable said families could begin moving in by month’s end.
Hopefully Fort Monmouth won’t become Katrina’s trailer issue and they just get it done.
Anyway, hope this post helps. I know it is a crappy economy and many are suffering, but these people in a lot of cases have lost everything. Pay it forward. If you can’t afford to help, or have nothing to donate, pass the information along to someone who can.