American Red Cross Disaster Newsroom

Written by Tracy Duncan

In the parking lot of Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, you’ll find trailers and tents of various sizes. Many of those trailers belong to the Red Cross, but if you look nearby, you’ll see several from the North Carolina Baptists on Mission.

The North Carolina Baptists on Mission is a statewide group dedicated to the disaster relief ministry and is focused on relieving human suffering caused by disasters. They fulfill their mission by providing hot meals, debris removal and other services. The group has been in New York since shortly after Hurricane Sandy made land fall, sending crews to help remove mud and debris from homes, install sheet rock and other rebuilding services much needed by those left in Hurricane Sandy’s wake.

While the crews of men head into neighborhoods during the day, another crew remains behind in this self-sufficient community. The North Carolina Baptists have bunk trailers, shower trailers, kitchen trailers, command trailers, utility/tool trailers and even a laundry trailer. They haul in their own water, which are refilled by local military groups.

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Written by Tracy Duncan.

Volunteer Norma Himpler prepares food for a resident of Island Park.

It’s not uncommon to see t-shirts and signs with “I heart NY” throughout town. What’s more true is that New Yorkers “heart NY” and are proving that by giving countless hours as Red Cross volunteers.

Bob Rathbone and Sue deBourg have been volunteers with the Mineola Chapter, part of the Greater New York Chapter, of the American Red Cross for years. When Sandy approached, they didn’t wait to see what needed to be done.

“We filled sand bags before the storm hit and then opened shelters as the storm approached,” said Bob Rathbone. “I think we’ve taken 10 days off throughout the disaster.”

Sue and Bob also helped close those shelters as residents were moved to hotels and other temporary housing. They didn’t end their service there, they just moved to another function.

Now Sue and Bob, joined by Norma Himpler, work an ERV route delivering meals to residents in areas hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy. Norma, 84, is a retired nurse.

While Sue and Norma dish up the food in back, Bob takes to the loud speaker inviting everyone to come out and get a free meal provided by the American Red Cross. He then chats with residents to see how things are progressing in the clean up.

With big smiles and bigger hearts, it’s easy to see how much these three New Yorkers care for their neighbors. Maybe that’s why we all love New York.

On a frigid morning, a group of Red Cross volunteers mill about the parking lot of Aqueduct Race Track for just a short time before snapping into action under the direction of Red Cross volunteer, Nelson Valina, an active duty Colonel in the United States Marine Corps.

The food has arrived at Kitchen 2 and there is now much to be done. Like an efficient platoon of Marines, the volunteers take their place at the truck to quickly unload the day’s meals for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. They hurriedly take cambros of hot food and are then directed to the correct pallet by Col. Valina.

A makeshift cardboard chart shows where each pallet is located, making the unloading that much faster and more efficient. In a matter of minutes, the truck is unloaded, the pallets are filled with hot food and fresh fruit and the next phase of the mission begins.

During the brief down time when the Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) drivers race off to get their vehicles, Col. Valina transforms from commanding officer to cheerleader. “You guys rock! You guys rock!” he shouts to the volunteers in the freezing temperatures. Everyone smiles, high-fives all around, the morale couldn’t be higher.

Time to switch gears again, there is still work to be done and the Colonel doesn’t easily forget that we’re here to do a job, we’re here to take care of people and fulfill the Red Cross mission. Now that the pallets are loaded, it’s time to load the ERVs heading out to the neighborhoods.

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Written by Joellen Barak

MANHATTAN, NY, January 18, 2013 – Sofia and her husband Stephan lost everything—even Stephan’s hearing aids—to Superstorm Sandy when their Brighton Beach apartment flooded. They were determined to rebuild their lives themselves—they found a new apartment on their own and moved in. But then Stephan lost his job because he couldn’t hear his supervisor’s instructions, and the couple realized that they needed help.

Felice Steele, a Red Cross nurse, immediately started making plans to replace Stephan’s hearing aids, but she didn’t speak Russian. That, combined with Sofia’s limited English and Stephan’s limited hearing, made communication difficult. Steele got the idea to contact a local Russian Orthodox Church to see if a priest would be able to help with translation. She reached Father Michael Suvak and Father Christopher Calin at the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin of Protection, and they were able to put her in touch with Father Vladimir Alexeev at Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church, who provided vital translation services.

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Written by Winnie Romeril

New York, January 15, 2013 — At a glance, living in a hotel for months on end sounds quite luxurious. But for parents like Flora Mendez Salinas, the isolation and added burdens are tremendous. When Superstorm Sandy hit in October 2012, all at once Flora lost her belongings, her apartment and her job. Her story is typical for many of the families living in limbo in more than 3,000 New York City-area hotel rooms.

“There are a lot of families still trying to survive in their homes,” said Red Cross casework supervisor Christina Hujanen. “A lot of them don’t want to leave for fear of things being taken. They’re just hoping that something will happen that will allow them to go back to how it was before the storm.”

Despite this valiant attempt to make it on their own, many storm survivor’s bank accounts are empty, their credit cards are maxed, and they simply can’t take living without running water, heat or electricity through the New York winter, as they have been since late October. Because of this, each day 20 to 30 additional people are requesting housing assistance from NY City authorities and are being placed in hotels.

However, the challenges are many. Firstly, few hotels allow cooking in the rooms, which means families like Flora’s must buy every meal — a costly endeavor in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Every couple of weeks, the Red Cross loads up debit cards with hundreds of dollars per family so they won’t go hungry.

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