Hurricane Sandy: Ways to Help Disaster Victims

Glenn Heartley pulls on a rope attached to his car in Chincoteague, Va., Tuesday. Heartley and his wife were swept off the road into the shallow creek during Hurricane Sandy’s arrival on Monday. (Steve Helber / AP)

While the massive Hurricane Sandy has passed the East Coast, 8.2 million homes and businesses are without power, at least 38 are dead with many others injured, and the economic damage inflicted by the superstorm is estimated to exceed $20 billion. With so much emotional and physical damage done to millions of American lives by this storm, Mercury One — Glenn Beck’s charity arm — and many other charity and service organizations are asking for your help in coming together as a nation in the wake of this crisis.

Joe Kerry, President of Mercury One, tells TheBlaze that they have partnered with Operation Blessing and Somebody Cares to work with local leaders in determining the needs of communities and neighborhoods impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

“The outpouring of love and donations to the Mercury One Disaster Relief Fund has been humbling,” Kerry said in an interview. Through the partnership,  Mercury One is working with the two organizations to supply fresh water, flashlights, batteries, generators and other relief supplies to areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Kerry tells TheBlaze that the partners hope to have tractor trailers loaded with supplies rolling into the impacted communities within the next 24-36 hours, as soon as it is safe to do so.

“Given the damage to the actual infrastructure we are expecting a need for these types of supplies along with food and working to provide shelter,” Kerry said. “People can assist in these relief efforts by donating to the Mercury One Relief Fund at www.mercuryone.org.” Donating to this fund provides supplies or direct financial assistance to those individuals and communities in the aftermath of a disaster.

Here are some other things you can do to help those in crisis following Hurricane Sandy:

  • You can donate to AmeriCares Disaster Relief Fund, which delivers medicines, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid to people in crisis in disaster areas following Sandy. The Fund’s response ”builds on 30 years of providing swift, efficient and effective aid to people in times of catastrophe, and then helping survivors rebuild their lives.”
  • New York Cares, New York City’s largest volunteer organization, can contact those who have already attended New York Cares orientations to coordinate disaster recovery projects after Hurricane Sandy, and can also contact interested volunteers for disaster recovery projects to fill out preliminary paperwork.
  • To volunteer today or over the next week with NYC Service to help staff evacuation shelters, you can email nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov with your name, email address, phone number and borough or call 311.
  • Gothamist reports that John Jay High School in Park Slope has set up an evacuation shelter, and is looking for volunteers to work six to eight hour shifts. They are also seeking donations of belts and clothing for men and children.
  • You can make financial donations to the Food Bank for New York City, who have already sent out their fleet of food distribution trucks to soup kitchens and food pantries throughout New York City, who serve 1.5 million New Yorkers.
  • You can donate to The Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, New Jersey, that supply food to needy children, elderly, the disabled, working poor and families on the Jersey shore, that has been particularly devastated by Sandy.
  • Team Rubicon, a group of military veterans and medical professionals committed to changing veteren reintegration and disaster response, has initiated “Operation Greased Lightening” mobilizing six response teams from D.C. to New York with a larger contingent of volunteers providing disaster relief.  You can donate $10 to TR that will feed a volunteer a meal,
 $25 that will purchase a replacement chainsaw chain and $100 that will cover the gas needed to get a team in place.

This list will be updated throughout the day.