Our daily bread. Simple things like food and shelter and heat that I take for granted, but I find myself thinking about more and more in the wake of the
devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. I live in the hurricane's path and had little or no damage to my house, other than an inconvenient power outage for a few days. I was in Europe and returned home shortly after my neighborhood's power was restored, so I actually
never even had to endure any loss of heat or power. The worse thing
that happened to me was I had to toss out the
contents of my refrigerator and freezer. Thousands of others weren't so lucky. If you have a few minutes, click on this link to get a sense of the damage. You will be stunned.
Many
of those who lost everything were ordinary,
working-class people whose dream was to get their kids through
college, to pay off their mortgage and retire someday. Now they're
left with no way to provide basic needs for their families, like a
roof over their heads or a hot meal. To make matters worse, they were
dealt an additional blow by the strong Nor'eastern storm that hit
shortly afterwards.
This disaster really struck a chord for me, because it's in a region where I live, in places - like the Jersey Shore - where I have spent many happy hours. When it hits so close to home, you suddenly realize that it could have been your house or your car that was crunched by a falling tree or blown away like pick-up-sticks. These things could happen to anyone anywhere.
There are thousands of people who survived Hurricane Sandy and who need a lot of help. They'll continue to need help for months -- for years to come. Volunteers
have stepped forward to help in many different ways, and it has been
heartening to see the outpouring of support. It's going to be a long
winter for those affected and there are many ways to help,
whether you live in the affected areas, or are far away. If you live in New Jersey, read
about some of the ways here. For New Yorkers, check here.
I've had a few setbacks in life and what I've learned from them is two things: Help others and live like there's no tomorrow. Part of the reason I love to travel is because I've had too many object lessons in the last few years showing me that life is fragile and you should enjoy what time you have right now. And I do. This blog will soon be back to normal and I'll be posting recipes related to my recent trip to France and Italy. But not today. Today I want to help - and give thanks in many ways for the
blessings I have been lucky enough to receive, including my daily
bread. I've already donated food and supplies and volunteered at one of the seaside New Jersey towns. In addition, I'll send $5 to the Red Cross for each comment you leave on this post. If you know of other resources, please share them. Thanks.
"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill
What a sad situation for all those people. Thank you for spotlighting the needs and giving places to help.
ReplyDeleteDear Linda, First of all, thank God that you are safe from this horrible destruction of nature. The photos on your link clearly demonstrate the loss that the people have taken. My heart goes out to all of you in the area that was stricken. Bless you for your outreach to help others, Linda.
ReplyDeletebaci,
Roz
Dear Linda,
ReplyDeleteHow very thoughtful of you. You are right - often it doesn't feel real until it hits close to home.
Thank you
Dear Linda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding us to remember those who have been touched by Sandy. I may be living in CT now but my heart will always be in New Jersey.
Thank you for all that you are doing to help.
Fondly,
Carolyn
I know you've been doing so much to help your fellowe New Jersey hurricane victims, Linda! The devastation is so unreal, isn't it? I was stunned when I saw the damage done in areas of Brooklyn and Queens. Lower Manhattan was so severely flooded that the building where the company my husband works for is located will not be opened again for many months! We have friends who lived in Belle Harbor and Breezy Point that lost their homes to flood and fires during the storm. Rosemary and her neighbor Joe have been going almost every day to different neighborhoods to help out -- I unfortunately have been doing less, because we are in the middle of packing and showing our house and having movers come over to give us moving estimates, but I've cooked trays of food for different areas and donated to the Red Cross. If everyone helps a little it will help a lot!
ReplyDeleteWinston Churchill was right, as are you about living every day to the fullest. Thank you for a very toughing post.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine going through that, those photos are so sad, so much work to do now and into the future. We all need to help in any way we can!
ReplyDeleteI feel so sorry for that. But always remember that there's always a new beginning. Things will be alright.
ReplyDelete