Rotary Club Donates Funds To Help With Hurricane Sandy Relief In Staten Island

Staten Island Rotary Club volunteers prepare to distribute cleaning supplies.

Members of the Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River have donated nearly $4,000 to help victims of Hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, NY, one of the areas hardest hit by the storm.

The funds were sent to the Staten Island Rotary Foundation, which is using donations to ensure that the appropriate goods and services (including alternate housing arrangements) reach those affected by Sandy in the most efficient manner possible.

Earlier this month, Phil Ardussi, president-elect of the local club, contacted Professor Dong-Joon Lee, a past district governor and member of the Staten Island club, to learn how Rotarians here could help.

Every dollar donated to the Staten Island Rotary Foundation is used to assist those in need.

“Though the destruction to Staten Island has been quite devastating,” Professor Lee wrote, “I have also been struck by the kindness that Rotarians and others have shown in the hurricane’s aftermath.”

Immediately, the Staten Island club mobilized to help with relief efforts, purchasing water, blankets, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, underwear, socks, sweatpants, and flannel shirts – as well as food items – which were delivered to distribution centers and shelters where the needs were greatest.

Now, all five Rotary clubs on Staten Island are working together in a coordinated effort to bring assistance and relief to the victims of Sandy by supplying food, supplies and labor to help in the cleanup.

“In certain neighborhoods, houses and cars were swept away; in other areas, seawater completely ruined entire floors, including all of the household’s furniture and possessions, which now line the sidewalks as heaps of garbage,” Lee added. “It’s a tragic sight.”