Stamford, Conn. – Nov. 13, 2012 – AmeriCares relief workers and World Cares Center volunteers went door to door in Staten Island, N.Y., today distributing sleeping bags to households without power since Hurricane Sandy. A team from AmeriCares was out in the Midland Beach neighborhood where residents are still living in storm-damaged homes with no heat or electricity, or sleeping in their cars because their homes are uninhabitable. AmeriCares is donating more than 1,900 sleeping bags for the “Operation Winter Warmth” hurricane relief project.
“Many of these families have been in the cold and dark for two weeks, and don’t know how long it will be before the power comes back on. It’s not any better there today than it was the day after the storm,” said AmeriCares Relief Worker Ella Gudwin. “They have gotten a lot of food, a lot of used clothing, but the fact that they received something new really made an impression on the people we met. It’s just one way we are helping storm survivors cope with catastrophic destruction.”
AmeriCares relief workers have been working nonstop since the hurricane, stocking shelters and aid distribution centers with medical aid, family emergency kits, bottled water, blankets, first aid kits, flashlights and cleaning supplies. The humanitarian aid organization has already delivered 45 aid shipments for Sandy survivors in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and more deliveries are planned in the coming weeks.
In addition to working together on “Operation Winter Warmth,” AmeriCares is partnering with World Cares Center to help clean storm debris from damaged homes in the New York area. More than 200 volunteers participated in the launch of “Operation Muck-Out” this weekend in the Rockaways, helping homeowners remove water-damaged drywall, furnishings and appliances from flooded homes.
