I was very excited to volunteer. I had never been to the Rockaways before, so I had no way to compare the damage, but I wanted to see if it was really as bad as the media coverage.
Little did I know what was in store.
According to my e-mail, I had to be on site at 8:00 am. It's a 90-1 hr 45 minute train ride, so I left at 6:30 am, and in typically Allie fashion, I got lost. It turns out the A train splits off into two branches, and I was on the wrong branch. I went back, and eventually found my way.
Because of flood damage to the subway from Sandy, the A train can't go to the Rockaways. Instead, shuttle buses run from JFK airport to the Rockaways. It's about a 45 minute bus ride. On the train it would be 15 minutes.
This was my first indication of how isolated this community really is. There is only one subway that goes that far, the A, and it's closed. The bus ride was really long and tedious. No wonder it took so long for first responders to reach the Rockaways; it's so isolated and hard to get to. While riding the bus, I didn't notice storm damage.
I get on site, and find out I didn't have to be there until 9. Great. I'm so glad I woke up an extra hour early. That was only the beginning of the miscommunications to come.
Finally a woman named Maureen shows up and directs us to a shed out back. It's about the size of a barn back home. She hands up XXL sized bright orange t-shirts with an X duct taped on the front. This way they can distinguish between volunteers and staff. Why do volunteers always have to wear the most hideous of attire?
The shed is a wreck. Outside of it, a 3' tall by 10' wide pile of boxes are haphazardly stacked. There are broken pieces of glass? fiber glass? Unknown substances? Inside are stacks and stacks of boxes crammed together with barely any walkway. All the boxes are donations of food, toiletries, animal food, diapers, etc. There are also stacks of Walmart bags filled with a few canned goods other volunteers packed the other day.
Our first job is to bring all the bags of food out and line it up on three 5' long tables. Maureen told us to check the bags of food. If we thought the bags were too heavy, she said to take out a can. Each bag had three or four cans. I was not about to take out 25% of the bag! Especially if this was to feed a family for the next 24 hours! While we are pulling food out of the shed, I take a moment to check out the line waiting to receive the food. When I got there at 8:30, there were about five people. The gates weren't scheduled to open until 11. While we worked, the line steadily grew longer. It was wrapping around the block when I left at 2.
Once we finished, we stood around bored for about half an hour. Then we bagged some more food for the next few days. Each bag did not contain much: a can of soup, a pack of crackers, a can of fruit, and a can of vegetables. Supposedly this would tide the families over until the next day when they could stand in line again, and receive another bag of food.
Around 10:45, we stopped bagging and went to the distribution to get ready. We then found out Governor Cuomo was donating frozen turkeys with the fixing for a Thanksgiving feast. They were scheduled to be delivered at 11 am. It was 10:45 and there no frozen turkeys. 11 came and went, and still no turkeys. We weren't letting people in, because we wanted to give them a turkey, then a bag of food. Finally half an hour later the turkeys show up. The people are ancy by this point. I see women holding their crying babies. One lady shouts out, "Go to the other church! They have better stuff there!"
The truck carrying all the turkeys parks, the National Guard get out to distribute the turkeys, and then stand around. My volunteer group takes some pictures. I'm sure that's exactly what the people in line want to see. People standing around taking pictures while their food is half an hour late and counting.
After asking around, I find out the reason we are all waiting is because the governor wants to come and do a photo shoot handing out the turkeys. Excuse me? The reason these families who don't have electricity or heat and haven't showered in weeks are standing in the cold waiting is because the governor wants to take a damn picture with them?!?!?! Unacceptable. He doesn't show up until 1 or 1:30. A full two hours late.
He's all smiley. Pompous. Showing off what a generous governor he is, and how he is taking care of his people. Ensuring everyone has a true American Thanksgiving. Never mind some people receiving the turkeys don't have electricity to cook their food.
In the meantime, all the volunteers are standing around watching the mayor hand out turkeys. We are told not to give any bags of food. If they want canned food as well, they have to get back in line. I have no idea why.
I was disgusted with the organization of the church. One of the Red Cross nurses on site was singing the church's praises with how organized they were. I would hate to see a disorganized place. Granted, it's not the church's fault for the governor showing up late. However, I don't see why we had to show all the food we had, and not give it away.
We also had feminine hygiene supplies, and were told not to distribute it. Apparently Wednesday is not pad day. What am I supposed to do? Tell a woman, "I'm sorry you are on your period. The fact that you still don't have hot water to shower in is terrible. Starting your period makes it that much worse. Unfortunately, you can't have a pad, because it's Wednesday, and we don't give out pads on Wednesday." Yeah right! I'd punch you in the face if you told me that.
I thought we had learned our lesson after Katrina. I thought we knew how to better respond to people in need after a natural disaster struck. I thought wrong. Not only does our country need to take a serious look at our contribution to global warming and the consequences of climate change both on our nation and the world, we also need to accept this is our new reality. We need to find a more effective, efficient system for managing these crises which will become more and more a normal part of our lives.
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