WHERE YOU CAN STILL DONATE ITEMS TO HELP SANDY VICTIMS; PLUS THANKSGIVING VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

We recently received another note from Gale Brewer’s office identifying places on the Upper West Side that are still accepting donations for Hurricane Sandy victims:

WEST SIDE DONATION DRIVES:

From The JCC in Manhattan (located at 334 Amsterdam Avenue):

Hurricane Sandy Relief – Blanket Drive: Tue, Nov 20-Fri, Nov 24

In response to hurricane victims still without electricity, the JCC is collecting new or clean, gently used blankets for Long Island residents. Please drop off blankets in the JCC lobby.

From COJO of the Upper West Side:

The West Side Shuls, the West Side Kollel, and COJO of the West Side invite you to a A Morning of Inspiration, this Thursday, November 22^nd a Hurricane Relief Fundraiser, at the Young Israel of the West Side, 210 West 91 Street. Breakfast will be at 9:00 AM and the Program begins at 9:40 sharp. Rabbis Don Blumberg, Rabbis Ephraim Wachsman, Rabbi Pesach Krohn, and Sam Domb will speak at this event. Checks can be made out to the COJO of the West Side.

There are also numerous ways to help people out on or around Thanksgiving:

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

BROOKLYN

From Met Council on Jewish Poverty
Thanksgiving Lunch: We will have a Thanksgiving dinner catered and volunteers will help to set up, clean up, and serve the meal to our senior residence affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Date: Wednesday, 11/21/2012, 12:30PM to 3:30PM
Location: 3811 Surf Avenue (Brooklyn)
Contact MetCouncilVolunteer@Gmail.com with subject line “THANKSGIVING”

From the office of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio:

Bay Ridge Thanksgiving Meal Prep

Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 09:00 AM

St. Mary’s Church: 192 81st St (corner of 81st Street & Ridge Boulevard) Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY

Volunteers are needed to help prepare Thanksgiving meals for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. If you can, bring your own knife, cuttings board, and apron.

RSVP unnecessary. Please ask for Karen upon arrival. Volunteers are needed to help prepare Thanksgiving meals for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. If you can, bring your own knife, cuttings board, and apron. RSVP unnecessary.

Coney Island Turkey Distribution

Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Coney Island  in Brooklyn, NY

Volunteers are needed to help distribute turkeys. PLEASE RSVP to kimosobbe@optonline.net

From WNYC:

Two Boots Brooklyn is collecting funds and is in need of drivers on Thanksgiving day to deliver supplies to hard-hit areas including the Rockaways, Garrison Beach and Staten Island. To volunteer as a driver call Sara at 732.619.0483

STATEN ISLAND

From the office of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio:

Staten Island Evacuation Center Shifts

Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 12:00 AM

Bayley Seton Hospital in Staten Island, NY

Calling volunteers for overnight shifts at the evacuation center located in Bayley Seton Hospital. PLEASE RSVP to: Karen_jackson@projecthospitality.org

New Dorp Cleanup & Construction

Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 10:00 AM

New Dorp Beach in Staten Island, NY

Brown Cross calling all volunteers to assist with heavy duty clean-up, demo and construction. For more information, contact: Pastor Steven Martino, 718-812-9894

From Gothamist:

On Staten Island, a group of alumni from St. Joseph Hill has set up a food collection site at the Promaster Gourmet,  1888 Hylan Boulevard. From 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, bring your prepared Thanksgiving dishes to the housewares store where the volunteers will distribute families in need. If you’d like to donate a dish, contact Alexis Garbarino at 917-560-5974 or through email at alexis.garbarino@gmail.com.

From Make the Road New York:

While millions of Americans will be starting their holiday shopping on Black Friday, volunteers at MRNY will be delivering survival supplies on Staten Island and Long Island, connecting families to public assistance, and bringing toys to kids whose homes have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

Thanks to the support of hundreds of volunteers and donors, we’ve been able to respond quickly and effectively to make sure that families already coping with economic insecurity get access to the help they need — regardless of immigration status or English ability.

This weekend, (November 23-25) we need both English-speaking, Spanish-speaking and bilingual volunteers:

Staten Island Relief Work:

Meet at 479 Port Richmond Ave, Port Richmond

Friday and Saturday:

10am-11am Orientation
11am-2pm Canvass in Midland Beach and South Beach

You can sign up to volunteer using this link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QBRG75M

Long Island Relief Work:

Meet at 1090 Suffolk Avenue, Brentwood Friday and Saturday

Friday and Saturday:

10:30-11am Orientation

11am-4pm Canvass

Sunday:

12-1pm Orientation

1pm-5pm Legal Clinic

You can sign up to volunteer using this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QBRG75M

QUEENS

From The JCC in Manhattan:

Bring Thanksgiving to the Rockaways: Thu, Nov 22, 1-5 pm

50 volunteers needed to help serve around 500 people. 15-passenger vans to drive people to and from the Rockaways from Manhattan will be provided. A group from Grace NYC has a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade band coming down to play for the crowd. Contact Julianne Rood at julianne.yeager@gmail.com.

From New York City Council Sandy Relief:

Thursday, November 22nd (Thanksgiving Day), the First Baptist Church of Far Rockaway needs volunteers to help serve Thanksgiving meals at 10 am. Please note: we cannot provide transportation to these sites, however, please still rsvp to SandyRelief@council.nyc.gov so we can let them know who to expect.

First Baptist Church of Far Rockaway, 1510 Redfern Avenue, Far Rockaway, NY

You can also check out the City Council Volunteer for Sandy Relief Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VolunteersForSandyRelief

Community Cleanup in the Rockaways

Join our Hurricane Sandy Clean-up Day this Sunday November 25th from 10am-4pm. Volunteers will be asked to do a variety of tasks (details below). Please share this trip with your groups. Seats will fill up fast. Hope you can join us!

Those who can participate in physical labor should plan to be working in homes that have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy including picking up heavy items (of 25 pounds or more) and helping to dispose of them. Other volunteers will be asked to help canvass damaged homes to get a needs assessment of families residing in the area so we can best ascertain how to provide help and services. For cooking-friendly folks, we may ask you to help distribute hot meals to individuals and volunteers as we will have grills and hot food available for dissemination. Everyone should plan to wear warm clothes and heavy boots, as well as clothes they do not mind getting dirty. For those helping with debris removal all safety equipment will be provided as well as training on both safety and best practices. When you do rsvp for the Cleaning Day please indicate which task you would like to do as well as if transportation to and from the Rockaways is needed.

For further questions about the Clean-Up Day and to rsvp you are coming please contact: Michelle Masone mmasone@mwpclaw.com or 516-353-4239. There will be a bus leaving from Manhattan to our work site so please email Deanna.Bitetti@gmail.com or jordanreisner@gmail.com if you would like to reserve a space on the bus as seating is limited.

RSVP to: bedelsman@gmail.com

BRONX

From the office of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio

Bronx Supply/Goods Organizing

Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 09:00 AM in Bronx, NY

Volunteers are needed to help sort goods, as well as to load and unload trucks headed to areas affected by Sandy. RSVP not necessary – call 718-473-6993 with any questions.

CITYWIDE

Blood Donations Needed: Blood supplies were critically affected by the storm, as the same outages that affect our region also affect many donation sites. The New York Blood Center locations are open and operating, and if you can, please consider donating blood. Blood donations can be scheduled by calling 1-800-933-2566 or visitinghttps://www.nybloodcenter.org.

To assist New Yorkers affected by Hurricane Sandy with donations of cash, goods, services, or to volunteer, please visit: https://www.nyc.gov/html/nycservice/home.html. The Mayor’s Fund is accepting financial donations from organizations and individuals to support hurricane relief efforts. One hundred percent of donations are being dispersed to relief efforts and organizations. The City is currently identifying immediate aid needs, including food, water and hygiene supplies, as well as long-term relief and restoration efforts. To donate by mail, make checks payable to Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and send to 253 Broadway, 8th Floor, New York City, New York 10007 (in memo line: Hurricane Sandy Relief) or donate online athttps://www.nyc.gov/html/fund/html/donate/donate.shtml. For any questions or to donate over the phone call 311 (212-NEW-YORK outside New York City).

Donations can also be made to the Food Bank of NYC at https://secure3.convio.net/fbnyc/site/Donation2?idb=1474389737&df_id=2781&2781.donation=form1,Met Council on Jewish Poverty at https://www.metcouncil.org, Citymeals on Wheels at https://www.citymeals.org, and New York Cares at https://www.nycares.org.