Hurricane Sandy ravaged through the east coast states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and West Virginia last week and they are still rebuilding. At least 106 were killed, and 8.5 million homes were left without power while dealing with flooding and damage. As an Emergency Preparedness company, we at Life+Gear wanted to help. We were contacted by the city of NYC this week in regards to a potential order of our Glow Sticks and Emergency Flares. There are so many people helping others, and since we couldn’t be there in person, we decided to donate over 30,000 units of these two products combined to the city of NYC for use in their rebuilding process. As a company, we are doing all we can to help those affected and hope to educate many on ways to be prepared ahead of time.
As an individual you can still make a big difference in the lives of those affected and help those heroes who are on the ground. Below are some ways to help:
1) Be Prepared: The best thing you can do for yourself is to BE PREPARED. When a major storm like this strikes, first responders are going to be very busy trying to help everyone in a short amount of time. If you prepare yourself by having flashlights, food, water, warmth and emergency flashers to signal for help, you can help the first responders find you fast, while staying hydrated, fed and warm in the meantime!
2) Donate Blood: Due to the storm, the Red Cross was forced to cancel over 300 blood drives. Due to this, their supplies are running low. You can find a location to donate blood and help by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. If you are in the NY/NJ areas, the New York Blood Center is also collecting blood donations.
3) Donate Food and Help Shelters: The Red Cross and the Salvation Army are on the ground in affected areas providing emergency shelter and meals for all of those evacuated from their homes. If you can’t donate food due to geographic location, you can donate money directly to these organizations to help.
4) Help the Children Affected By Sandy: World Vision and Save the Children are doing all they can to help children in need. They are paying special attention to the individual and collective needs of all the children affected by the storm.
5) Help the Animals: Along with all of the individuals affected by the storm, there are also thousands of pets that still need our help. The Humane Society of the United States and the American Humane Society are on the grounds of affected areas and have teams working to save the lives of affected animals.
6) Provide Emergency Supplies: AmeriCares, Catholic Charities USA, Direct Relief International, Feeding America and Operation Blessing International are helping on the ground and providing emergency supplies for those in need. These supplies include food, medical supplies and emergency kits.
7) Help with the Cleanup: As you can imagine, the Hurricane struck areas have a lot of cleaning up to do. Team Rubicon already has veteran field teams on the ground now and Samaritan’s Purse is looking for volunteers for helping in the rebuilding efforts.
We can all make a difference and help all affected by this storm to overcome and rebuild.
Source:
Hays, Julie. "How to Help after the Superstorm." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/30/us/iyw-how-to-help-after-sandy/index.html>.