GOOD NEWS! Volume 29 Number 8
SPECIAL EDITION 2012
Photos by Robert Mitchell
Hurricane Sandy Relief
FROM THE EDITOR >>
In Sandy’s wake
WARReN l. MAYe
W
e issue this special edition of Good News! to provide you with a quick view of what The Salvation Army is doing in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. These eight pages belie the depth and the breath of the Army’s efforts to respond to human need following the most extraordinary storm on record. I hope you’ll be inspired by these stories that describe how, in the midst of such disaster, people affected are being helped practically, emotionally, and spiritually by officers, employees, and volunteers of The Salvation Army. One example occurred in Coney Island, N.Y., when an officer happened to look up at the 20th floor of a darkened building and saw what appeared to be a woman standing at her window. She waved her arms vigorously, attempting to get anyone’s attention. What is this woman trying to say? the officer wondered. She disappeared from view momentarily, but returned with a baby in her arms. Salvation Army volunteers then climbed 20 flights of stairs and discovered that she had two more small children and needed food for all of them. Although the media’s attention has moved to other challenges facing our nation, recovery from Hurricane Sandy will remain on the Salvation Army’s agenda for months to come. If you’d like to donate to this cause, please contact us via the information provided on page eight of this bulletin.
Photo by Major Jorge Diaz
May God bless you!
Commissioner Israel L. Gaither, territorial commander, joins the Emergency Disaster Services team at Territorial Headquarters for a territory–wide conference call on Hurricane Sandy with volunteers in the field.
“m ” ‘We had to swim to our house. It was like walking into the ocean’ — Teresa Schaffer, Midland Beach, Staten Island, N.Y.
‘It’s wonderful that The Salvation Army is here to help us! We lost everything. It’s nice to have a hot meal’ — Amy Lachky of Union Beach, N.J. ‘No doubt, the people are seeing The Salvation Army!’ —Captain Antonio Rosamilia on Staten Island
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GOOD NEWS! USA EASTERN TERRITORY Commissioners Israel L. and Eva D. Gaither Territorial Leaders Colonel William Carlson Chief Secretary Linda D. Johnson Literary Secretary Warren L. Maye Robert Mitchell Keri Johnson Reginald Raines Saoul Vanderpool Karena Lin Nanette Morales Joe Marino
Editor Associate Editor Art Director Associate Art Director Senior Designer Graphic Designer Production Specialist Production Assistant
Divisional News Correspondents SFOT — Major A. Kenneth Wilson ARCC — Major Debra Taylor PENDEL — Randall Thomas, Major Kathryn A. Avery Empire State — Jaye C. Jones GNY — Jennifer Groff Mass. — Major Kathleen Klenk NJ — Tricia Pellegrini NEOSA — Major Lurlene Johnson NNE — Cheryl Poulopoulos PR & VI — Linette Luna SNE — James Gordon SWONEKY — A/Captain Jean Thornton WEPASA — Captain Paul R. Pelletier All articles are copyrighted by The Salvation Army, except where indicated, and can be reprinted only with written permission. Also available in Korean and Spanish.
Statement of Purpose Good News! is the official publication of The Salvation Army of the USA Eastern Territory. The purpose of Good News! is to inform, inspire, and equip Salvationists to grow in holiness, to serve together in supportive, healing communities, and to reach others for Jesus Christ.
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Special Edition 2012
HURRICANE RELIEF >>
“S
uperstorm Sandy,” a Category 2 hurricane, devastated parts of the Caribbean, and the Mid–Atlantic and East Coast, causing $20 billion in damage and leaving in its wake nearly 100 people dead. In the wake of the storm, The Salvation Army sprang into action. As of Nov. 6, the Army, in partnership with other organizations, helped provide more than 1.5 million meals and drinks to residents affected by storm. The most heavily damaged areas in the USA Eastern Territory were in New York and New Jersey, where providing food, shelter, and emotional and spiritual care remains the focus of Salvation Army service. That service was interrupted temporarily as a Nor’easter hit the area Nov. 7, bringing freezing temperatures, high winds, snow, and more flooding. In New York City, The Salvation Army is the lead agency for the city’s Food Access Plan.
In New Jersey, The Salvation Army lost a canteen to flood waters, but has been undaunted in providing meals, water, blankets, baby formula, diapers and wipes, batteries and flashlights, toothbrushes and toothpaste, gloves and hand warmers, earmuffs, toiletries, and shampoo and conditioners. The Salvation Army is providing critical services in 12 counties in New Jersey, which includes 16 shelters and 11 mobile feeding canteens. The Salvation Army is working with a broad coalition of partners to coordinate
‘I need socks’
“I
’m a cancer survivor and I need socks!” said Teresa Schaffer. It was just a few days after Schaffer wandered into a Salvation Army tent in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island, N.Y., where volunteers quickly found warm socks and new boots for her chilly feet. “Wow! My feet are warming up!” Schaffer said after a few minutes. “My feet are having a party in my shoes. These socks are the best gift ever. “I haven’t been dry in days. I’m trying to pick up the pieces.” Schaffer, a Stage 4 breast cancer survivor, says she had on the same clothes the day Sandy hit—most notably her
Photo by Robert Mitchell
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RobeRt Mitchell
Photo by Robert Mitchell
After Hurricane Sandy: meeting human need
the distribution of water and food supplies to 12 sites in Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and in Manhattan. Just before the Nor’easter hit, The Salvation Army had provided 932,051 meals, 688,937 beverages, 88,097 snacks and lodging for 1,073 displaced residents.
RobeRt Mitchell
pink “survivor” T–shirt from a breast cancer fundraising walk. “Last Thanksgiving, I was going through chemo and 20 hours of surgery,” she said. “This Thanksgiving, I’m homeless.”
Schaffer says her family got out of their home before Sandy hit, but returned the next day to find it flooded and surrounded by a lake of water. “We had to swim to our house,” she said. “It was like walking into the ocean.” Schaffer, who still takes chemotherapy, found much more than socks and boots at the tent; Major James Foley, social services secretary for the Greater New York Division (GNY), directed her to a local pharmacy that was dispensing free medicine. Schaffer, who also got some warm food during her visit to a Salvation Army canteen, was grateful. “We’re cold and hungry,” she said. “This is amazing.” When asked how she was holding up, Schaffer said, “It’s like, I’m in mourning. And after the funeral, there’s no where to go.” 3
HURRICANE RELIEF >>
N.J.: a state of disaster
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Rivera said that soon after the canteens arrived, the word went out for volunteers and they quickly filled the slots. “It was absolutely spontaneous,” Rivera said. Grateful were weary residents who lined up to receive anything being offered on that blustery afternoon. Fran Blackburn of Keansburg, N.J., said she went five days eating cold food. “But this is hot,” Blackburn said. “I feel normal now.” Amy Lachky of Union Beach, N.J., agreed. “It’s wonderful that The Salvation Army is here to help us,” she said. We lost everything. It’s nice to get a hot meal.” Teresa Vona brought her family, including two small girls, to find food. “Everyone knows somebody that lost everything,” she said as she sipped hot coffee. “To just see the sadness, it’s just heartbreaking. I don’t see how some people are going to get through this. I know they will, but it’s heartbreaking.” Many of the volunteers were teachers from Memorial School and saw their students coming for help.
“They’re happy to see a familiar face,” said Debbie Byren, a science teacher. Math teacher Nicole Gilkison added, “We’re here for them, just like we are every day.” Bart Sutton of Union Beach lost everything except what he had in his bedrooms. He feared his house would eventually collapse. “But,” he said, “we’re all alive— a big plus!”
Photos by Robert Mitchell
eople saw the Army in ravaged parts of New Jersey. Jesse Rivera, the Army’s Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) coordinator for Middlesex County, oversaw a canteen at Memorial School in Union Beach, N.J. Members of the National Guard helped unload donated food, which volunteers from the neighborhood and teachers served. The volunteers served military grade “Meals Ready to Eat” (MREs), water, fruit, snacks, and other goods. “Right now in New Jersey, the whole state is a disaster,” Rivera said. “This area has nothing. It’s totally decimated. What we’re doing here as an Army—it’s important.”
Robert Mitchell
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Special Edition 2012
HURRICANE RELIEF >>
Loaves and fishes on Staten Island
Robert Mitchell
F
or those people who could get out of the ravaged neighborhoods around Midland Beach to The Salvation Army’s tent on Midland Avenue, a wide range of free food, clothing, and other supplies were available. A canteen served hot soup, coffee, and hot chocolate. Lieutenants Travis and Zuheil Barton of the Army’s Stapleton Corps in Staten Island and other volunteers from GNY helped people in need. Immediately after Sandy hit, Lieutenant Travis Barton said he loaded the corps van with about 80 spaghetti dinners but couldn’t reach people in many of the devastated neighborhoods. So, he fed first responders instead. Over the next two days, the corps served 600 meals in the affected neighborhoods. Barton described the effort as a “fishes and loaves experience.” “There were about 20 more plates every time we thought there were only 10 left,” he said. “They just kept coming and coming.” Nearly every house in the surrounding area sustained heavy damage and people stacked their ruined possessions at the curb, making travel difficult. “We went into the areas where people have no power or anything that would bring them hope or a little bit of God’s love to their hands,” Barton said. “They’re just so glad for a cup of coffee, a cup of hot chocolate, a cup of hot soup. We just tell them that Jesus loves them. They’ve acknowledged that The Salvation Army has been here
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Photos by Robert Mitchell
for them.” Many observers said Staten Island was probably the worst hit area in the country. Barton compared Sandy to another epic disaster. “This is like 9/11 scale,” he said. “When I look at all the destruction and homes obliterated and the debris piles, it’s like, ‘Wow.’ I haven’t seen anything like this since 9/11. I’m a New Yorker and it’s quite a bit for me to watch.” In a scene similar to 9/11, people pulled up to The Salvation Army’s tent and donated food, bottled water, and other goods—all day. Included were Sylvia
Murphy and Nancy Ford who drove to Staten Island from the upper west side of Manhattan in a car full of donations. Then they spotted the large white tent. Murphy said, “We were watching the news last night and just saw so much horror and we started crying and we’re like, ‘We need to do something.’ ” Murphy and Ford solicited money from friends and went shopping. “It just broke our hearts that Staten Island is 15 or 20 miles away and they have nothing,” Ford said. “It makes us feel good [to help
the people].” Meanwhile at a distribution center near the beach, Captain Antonio Rosamilia of the Manhattan Citadel Corps was working with several city and federal agencies. Volunteers packed cars with containers of water, blankets, food, and other necessities before traveling into the hardest hit neighborhoods. Rosamilia later toured the communities himself, distributing goods and offering encouraging words to suffering people. “No doubt, the people are seeing The Salvation Army” Rosamilia said. 5
Photo by Salvation Army of Jersey City, N.J.
Photo by Salvation Army of Jersey City, N.J.
HURRICANE RELIEF >>
From devastation to mobilization
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Special Edition 2012
www.sagoodnews.org
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All photo by Robert Mitchell except where indicated
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