Witnessing the best in the worst of times

A heavy toll was taken on communities all over New York City after Hurricane Sandy slammed the East Coast. In the storm’s wake, The Home Reporter and Brooklyn Spectator began a drive for clothing, food and other supplies for victims. The goal was to alleviate the burdens of those affected and in dire need of help.

The response was unprecedented. Package after package arrived from individuals and businesses in the following weeks. Piles of supplies nearly reached the ceiling of the office at 88th Street and Third Avenue, and a waterfall of clothing and food quickly overtook desks and filing cabinets. It is difficult to find words to describe adequately the selfless generosity that was shown.

The hundreds of packages dropped off at the office were picked up and brought to disaster areas by a vast spectrum of concerned people and organizations. A grassroots, ad-hoc community response — involving churches, civic clubs and everything in between — had sprung up to meet the many needs that were present in the post-storm cityscape.

“It really was a united front,” said Ariel Hernandez, who organized the pick-up and drop-off of about 50 packages of supplies from The Home Reporter’s office.

Hernandez, a corrections officer by trade, is also the head of God’s Chosen Riders Ministry, a group involved in charity work around the city. After picking up the packages, Hernandez and a team of volunteers sorted and repackaged them at Gateway City Church in Bay Ridge which had become a sort of distribution facility for his relief efforts. These items were then brought to hard-hit locations in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

Despite witnessing the worst of Sandy’s damage, Hernandez still saw some beauty in what occurred afterwards. “This brought out the best in some people,” he said. “As a Christian, it’s my mandate to help the needy and less fortunate. But even for others who aren’t religious, it was important to help. It may have really re-instilled people’s faith in humanity to see that there are still good people that are willing to help.”

St. Mary’s Church, located in Fort Greene, also helped hugely, picking up around 160 packages from this office. Louis Acuna, head of donation pick-ups and drop-offs, said that drives like The Home Reporter’s have filled the church’s storage reserves to capacity. “The response was unbelievable and we are so thankful,” he said.

After church staff picked up the packages, they were sorted and stored. In the days following Sandy, St. Mary’s staff had no need to store most items as they were rapidly being shipped to disaster areas in Staten Island and Brooklyn, as well as to organizations at the forefront of relief, such as the Red Cross.

However, in the following weeks, many organizations, overwhelmed with contributions of clothing, have stopped accepting donations of this type. But, Acuna said, people are still giving — so much that in fact, according to him, St. Mary’s is completely out of storage space. As many other relief organizations are experiencing similar situations, he suggested that, for the many who still wish to help, donating money might be the best option.

In a time of immense hardship, so many wholeheartedly dedicated their time and treasure to help. The staff of The Home Reporter and Brooklyn Spectator can attest to that. This charity drive was conceived within the papers’ offices, organized within the minds of its staff, but given its life and drive by members of the community.

Donations of non-perishable food, cleaning supplies, paper goods and new toys are still being accepted and, with Christmas rapidly approaching, the need will become all the more prominent and the call to help just as pressing.

So, the staff of The Home Reporter and Brooklyn Spectator sincerely thanks those who helped, and hope that displays of generosity like those already witnessed will continue.

“We are enormously touched by the overwhelming response from the community, who brought out food, toys and clothing,” noted Co-Publisher Joshua Schneps.