1/19/13 and 1/20/13 - work weekend for Hurricane Sandy relief

1/7/2013

I mentioned in my previous blog that we made contact with NJ Strong, a non-profit organization, coordinating the volunteer efforts to clean up homes affected by Hurricane Sandy along the New Jersey shore.  They are hard at work almost every weekend and now have about 70 homes cleaned out.  However, those homes are not ready for reconstruction yet for various reasons.

So on 1/19/13 (Saturday) and 1/20/13 (Sunday),  I am joining up with my brother, Jim Groff and the Christiana Lions, and heading to the Jersey shore to help them with the recovery sites they are involved in.  They have made the trip, I believe, 6 weekends now.

There are several homes we will be targeting.  They are in various stages of repair and reconstruction.  We will need carpenters, electricians, tile installers, cabinet installers, and "helping" hands.  We will be placed where our ability best fits the need.

I need to get a head count of who is able to join us for either day or both so we know how much work we can anticipate to get done.  Based on the makeup of the crew, we will line up the construction material we anticipate needing so it will be on site for when we arrive.

Housing and motel rooms in that region are at a premium right now, so we are not staying overnight. We will be returning to Gap at the end of the day on Saturday and driving back to the work sites on Sunday. That is a pain, but until we can line up someplace to bed down for the night, we'll be running back and forth.

Meals are not provided.  Hand tools are not provided.  Let me know if you can provide transportation, a pickup or van.  We will get as many in as few vehicles as feasible.

The drive takes about 2 hours and fifteen minutes from Gap to where we will be working.

Remember, this is a long term effort to help get those affected by the storm to get back into their homes.  So if you are unable to join us for the 19th or 20th, there will be other weekends coming up.  I would like to schedule at least one weekend a month to help in this effort.

If you are interested in joining us for either 1/19 or 1/20, or future weekends to be determined, please contact me at inthegapforshore@gmail.com.

Thanks
Dale Groff