HURRICANE: Rotary Helps! from NY Rotary Club
Posted by Nancy Paulson
on Nov 6, 2012
Rotarians are Helping Victims of Hurricane Sandy!DGE Matts Ingemanson, District Governor 2013-14, forwarded some of the communications he's received from Area Clubs. They're wonderful examples of our fellow Rotarians' care, concern and steps toward action.
NEW INFORMATION - RESOURCES FOR ASSISTING NEW JERSEY ROTARIANS Download the information sheet.
| Fellow Rotarians, Many, many Rotarians are helping the victims of Hurricane Sandy. I received the following message from Tom Rudy, President of the Rotary Club of Wall Street: Matts, Please see our website. We do important work to help those most in need. Please tell attendees at UN Day that our club is raising money. We have taken a leadership role. Thank you, Tom You can watch the Rotary Club of Wall Street website at www.wallstreetrotary.org I received the following message from Bharat Jalan, President of the Rotary Club of Metro New York Hi Don, Matt's and Jim - please let us how we can help. Already working on mobilizing some funds so we can buy some of the short-term must-have's that Bonnie from NJ listed. Thanks You can watch the website of the Rotary Club of Metro New York at www.rotarymetronyc.org A recent communication from an RC Wall St. member to PDG George R. Camp I just dropped off 45 items (6 garbage bags) of clothing at the Bowery. It was pretty nuts down there. There is a line to even enter the building. The lights may be on, but it's still pretty cold inside and is very cold if you're waiting to get in. I took the 30 seconds I had to talk to a Bowery rep and asked what they need the most. The answer: a shake of the head, a shrug and "everything". I asked what kind of food they needed...he said they were ok with sandwiches but beyond that "everything". I asked about fruit, granola bars, canned food and the answer was "everything" again. Things get really real really fast when you show up at a shelter in the middle of the night...Things were way too intense to be whipping out a camera for a photo op - maybe on the next delivery. Super huge shout out to the total stranger who rode his bike 25 minutes to get his car in Bay Ridge to help me move the clothes. I received the following message from Frances Chu: I am enclosing a news item. Although it is in Chinese but I just want you to take a look at the video. The donated items are in Lina Mei's store in Flushing. Lina spoke about the young volunteers coming from Queens, Brooklyn, and as far as Connecticut that they delivered by walking up the dark stairs and carrying the donated water, food, clothing etc. to the Senior victims of Sandy Storm trapped on the top floors in buildings in Chinatown. They are just like Rotarians - Service Above Self volunteers. http://video.sinovision.net/?id=8925 All the best, Frances http://franceschusblog.blogspot.com I received the following message from Rotary International Representative Joe Laureni: Rotary UN Day -- announcement to make about how volunteers can help this weekend to respond to the hurricane. Give blood: The director of the New York Blood Center has informed us that they are in serious need of blood donations to replenish their badly-depleted supply. Visit http://www.nybc.org to find the nearest location where you can give blood. Give your time: If you are able to assist local groups in heavily impacted neighborhoods with recovery efforts and resource collection/distribution, please visit the sites listed below for information about where and when your help is most needed. www.lowereastside.recovers.org - www.statenisland.recovers.org - www.redhook.recovers.org Thank you Joe for that information! I received the following message from Justine Grosso, Vice President of the Boston Rotaract Club: Good afternoon, I am the VP of the Boston Rotaract Club. We are 25 members coming to the UN event and staying until sunday night in the city. Some people of the group feel uncomfortable to come to NYC to enjoy the event and the city, when so many people around us will be struggling of the Sandy's damages. Is there any possibility to volunteer in NYC on sunday? We are such a large group at the UN that it will be a great idea if we could participate in some way to the effort. Any actions we could do at the UN? Please keep me informed, Justine Grosso Thank you Justine! I am sure that you will find plenty of opportunities to serve in the great City of New York. I received the following message from Barbara Edwards, President of Pembroke Rotary in Bermuda, also part of our Rotary District: Hello Matts, Seeing from the correspondence concerning the Sandy disaster, our DG Greg would be unable to receive our email sent recently. Speaking for Pembroke Club Bermuda, we are at a distinct dis-advantage by being far away, but would like to convey our sincere sadness over the loss of personal matters and of course, lives. Is there anyway in which the Bermuda Rotary Clubs can help…….if there is, please let me or our ADG know and of course, he will funnel the help request along to the 4 Presidents. Our only connection to reality concerning hurricane Sandy is through the various news media. We in Bermuda know very well the damage and loss of lives taken during these man made traumas, simply horrific. Wishing you all a speedy recovery Barbara Edwards President, Pembroke Rotary BERMUDA Thank you Barabara! I am sure teher are ways that you can help. Just contact some of the other Rotarians that I have included in this message and any previous messages. Here is a new message from District Governor Bonnie Sirower of Rotary District 7490, across the Hudson River: Hey, everyone. Please keep sending me your needs for your district. Pease be as specific as possible about what is needed and most of all, where the stuff should be sent and to whom. Also consider longer-range needs that we can include in a Multi-District grant like what they did in Vermont last year. When we get power back again, we can have a conference call. That might include rebuilding, equipping schools, etc. I will give you a bi-weekly accounting of all cash donations,and I thunk we should split the donations equally unless someone specifies one of our areas in making the gift. See some of you tomorrow... Bonnie Sirower Thank you everybody for your messages. Rotary is about Service Above Self! DGE Matts Ingemanson District Governor 2013-2014 Rotary International District 7230 - New York & Bermuda |
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