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Hurricane Sandy Damage Assessments: Day 2 Relief
Wednesday was a day of continued outreach to States and nonprofits offering assistance. Initial assessments are starting to come in, along with the corresponding requests for help. This will be a long road to recovery in many of the areas hit. Relief organizations are communicating that financial donations are preferred, so they can acquire the precise materials needed. Specific requests have been made for the donations of gift cards to home improvement stores so that the necessary clean up items can be purchased quickly and locally to help the communities and businesses involved. You can make offers of these items on the National Donations Management Network (www.ndmn.us).
Aidmatrix has been working to get the impacted communities' needs captured and listed on The National Donations Management Network(www.ndmn.us). New York City and New Jersey have both begun loading information and directing the public to their pages on the NDMN for those who want to make in-kind donation offers. Offers for gift cards can be made through these pages and connect directly with the relief organizations on the ground making the requests.
Your generousity during these times to help these organizations that are providing shelter, food and disaster services for Hurricane Sandy is greatly appreciated. Below are just a few stories from our partners that are working on the relief efforts. You can read their full stories and see photos, videos and more on our Local Impact Map at www.aidmatrix.org.
Gov. Scott McCallum
CEO and President
The Aidmatrix Foundation
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World Cares Training and Mobilizing Volunteers to Meet Critical Needs
"You have to practice if you want to play on game day." It's a common adage in sports - and when it comes to disaster re lief. The most effective contributors to response efforts usually are ones who have invested time and energy ahead of the disaster so they c an be as effective as possible when it's time to take action. Aidmatrix and some other organizations work to serve as a lever - enabling those who have so much to offer, but have not prepared, to get connected with the deeply experienced disaster relief workers and certified volunteers. This 'whole community' approach to preparation, relief and recovery makes us more resilient in the face of disasters.
One of our partners in relief, World Cares Center, works constantly during peace time to build up qualified emergency volunteer resources and forge partnerships ahead of the disaster. Their training and related programming has significantly contributed to the level of preparedness in the Greater New York City area in the face of Sandy. Once the storm was eminent, World Cares shifted gears and started recruiting and quickly equipping and training additional volunteers and mobilizing other resources, to help provide the large-scale response needed in the face of this historic disaster.
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Save the Children Responding to Hurricane Sandy
"As you read this, Save the Children is on the ground in New Jersey areas most severely affected by Hurricane Sandy, assessing the situation and ensuring the unique needs of children are met as America responds to this very real tragedy. The latest information indicates that many families will be unable to return to their homes for as long as a week to 10 days. We will work with local communities, schools and with other partners to help children cope with the long-term trauma of having their homes damaged or destroyed and their lives disrupted."
Carolyn Miles
President & CEO
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Patrick Callihan, NPower Pennsylvania's Executive Director, speaks on how they are using Microsoft technology to provide help to nonprofits throughout Pennsylvania with their Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
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 "We have about 30 equine groups we are working on getting in touch with that are located in the affected area. I've only heard back from one group, and they have yet to go in and survey their damage. We are working to gather the status of possible needs of some of our groups hit by the hurricane. More information to follow as we start hearing from them."
Robin Mason Accreditation Manager
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Watch the video