Here on the Northeast coast, the devastation Hurricane Sandy left in her wake- has left me heart broken.
My family and I were fortunate in that we only lost power for about a week, but the island I grew up on (Staten Island), the beach town where I rented shore houses with my friends in my 20’s (Belmar), the boardwalk where we took our wedding photos (Point Pleasant), The boardwalk we took the kids to ride bumper cars and play claw games (Seaside)…
Point Pleasant @Jenkinson's Boardwalk
Seaside Heights
Union Beach, @Jakeabobs.
All these places destroyed…beyond anything anyone could imagine.
{Staten Island}
After 2 days without power, we went to stay with my mother in Staten Island.
My friend Nina text messaged me and told me about The Traina Family. A friend’s parents whose 3 Staten Island beach front properties had been destroyed by the storm. They were looking for help and I volunteered to bring them over some things.
As we navigated through Staten Island, what we saw could only be described as a war zone–
Boats in the middle of streets, water still pooled up, straws from the sea covered– everything.
But nothing could have prepared me for what we saw when we arrived at the corner of Cedar Grove, at the house of the family we were helping-
photo credit: Anthony Torsiello
From the family’s blog, the below was the home before Sandy.
photo credit: thetrainafamily.wordpress.com
(You can donate directly to The Traina Family here)
It was a heartbreaking scene that no words or pictures can fully explain.
I will never forget Mrs. Traina’s sweet smile as she thanked us for all we had brought over. All of this devastation going on, and yet this family remained sweet, thankful for what they did have and resilient as ever.
As I walked back to the car, I cried – not so much because of the destruction but because looking around I was overwhelmed by the sense of hope and determination of the residents and volunteers, by The Traina Family’s strength and togetherness– Neighbors were helping neighbors, volunteers selflessly helping cleanup, cooking on BBQs in the middle of the street for the families who were spending their day just trying to salvage memories from their property.
I had never been so proud of the island I grew up on. It was then that I knew I wanted had to keep helping the island that I grew up on.
{{ Adopt-A-Staten Island-Family }}
I called my friend Melissa of The Staten Island Family and together we brainstormed. Finally, we were connected with a group called The Recovery Registry that is committed to helping one family at a time.
While the Recovery Registry is working on a much bigger, long term plan to help the families impacted on Staten Island, Melissa and I are kicking off their efforts by coordinating a simple Adopt a Family program– that anyone of our blog friends or readers can participate in.
