The United Disaster Response Initiative - DRI

08/25/2020

Get out there: Help yourself and your neighbors during these times. Better to rely on OUR actions than wait for government relief. People are suffering from the Coronavirus AND Government's response now. The time to act was yesterday. Just as we New Yorkers built ourselves back from Sandy, again we shall!

Shout-out to Half Table Man for coming through. Having risen from the devastation that Hurricane Sandy left in its wake, Mr. Aiman Youssef and his team of samaritans have done their best to provide COVID-19 relief.

[Half-Table Man]
http://www.halftableman.org

If you know a local neighborhood/ community relief effort that provides COVID-19 relief or are an independent effort providing said relief, and would like us to know and share, please give a shout-out in the comments below.

Help us spread word by sharing with friends and family.
Thank you!

12/18/2014

Fellow New Yorkers and All,

HELP GIVE THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS TO THOSE IN NEED
Donate, Volunteer, Spread The Word.

THE STORY OF THE SECRET SANDY CLAUS PROJECT

•Beginnings
The origins of the Secret Sandy Claus Project began in the weeks leading up to Christmas after the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, one of the most destructive and costliest hurricanes in United States history. Homes were destroyed. Families were displaced. Many did not even have heat for some of the coldest months to come after.

So on December 9th, 2012, a man named Michael "Sandy Claus" Sciaraffo decided to start some local toy drives in his neighborhood and find children who lost their toys in the storm to replace the ones the storm swept away from their childhoods.

The goal was to spend the rest of December matching up as many children as he could with a toy they had lost or had asked for Christmas from Santa and deliver it to them at their homes. To locate these children in need, Michael took to Facebook and posted about what he wanted to do to help families recovering from the storm. Very quickly, it started going viral and within 4 days after posting the offer on Facebook, he had collected over 750 toys that he had to fit in his 1 bedroom apartment in Gravesend, Brooklyn, N.Y. Wherever families were affected, he began to don a Santa suit and started delivering toys to children in the Rockaways, Brooklyn, Staten Island and some parts of Long Island and New Jersey.

•Birth of the Secret Sandy Claus Project
By the 11th day after beginning his personal mission, the Secret Sandy Claus Project became worldwide news practically overnight, when the story of "Sandy Claus", the real life Santa Claus, was featured in every newspaper around the world on Dec. 21st, 2012.

As a result, the project had now begun garnering worldwide and national news media coverage such as the Associated Press, CNN , ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, Fox News Channel, CBS National News and many other news outlets. From there it blossomed rapidly and grew exponentially with each passing day into a grass roots run relief effort utilizing the use of social media, volunteers, donations, data collection, transportation capabilities, storage facilities and a common goal: to help those affected by Superstorm Sandy put the pieces of their lives back together.

•Rain nor Sleet nor Hurricane
Throughout all of 2013, the Secret Sandy Claus Project/America's Disaster Relief had begun to strategically organize relief efforts by recruiting volunteers locally and from around the country, securing truck donations, receiving monetary and physical donations from generous donors and began the work of addressing the needs of those affected by Superstorm Sandy on a much larger scale.

We began working with many relief hubs and other organizations on the ground in all affected areas by making bulk deliveries of food, water, furniture, clothing , cleaning supplies, appliances and other supplies that were needed at the time. We provided direct relief to all affected areas of Hurricane Sandy and helped to alleviate the financial burdens placed on the relief hubs and organizations assisting on the ground at the time.

By putting the infrastructure in place to start putting a dent into the damage that wreaked havoc across our ocean fronts, many thousands of families in need received items of relief from the Secret Sandy Claus Project, from one end of the devastated coastline to the other.

•The Expanded Mission
By December 2013, the Secret Sandy Claus Project wanted to maintain and continue its commitment to the children affected by Superstorm Sandy and sought to expand beyond just the one man in a single Santa suit.

Given the enormous outpouring of support from many kind-hearted individuals over the course of the year, Michael began to plan a dramatic expansion of his original operation from 2012 by leading an effort to recruit over 200 Santa's and Elves in time for Christmas 2013.

Together, due to the amazing monetary and toy donations we continued to receive from our generous support base, our newly assembled team of amazing volunteers were able to deliver thousands of toys dressed as Santa to children from Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, New Jersey and even kids affected by the tornadoes in Oklahoma that year.

•Santa's Sleigh Fleet Grows Stronger
This year, however, the Secret Sandy Claus Project's mission is dramatically expanding even further than before to ensure as many children as possible can have the experience of Sandy Claus visiting them for Christmas. We are proud to announce that the Secret Sandy Claus Project officially partnering this Holiday Season with the NYC Marines Toys for Tots organization, along with We Care New York in an effort to expand our shared goals to distribute as many toys to children who are less fortunate throughout New York City as we possibly can. We intend to continue our mission further by delivering toys to thousands of children at their homes dressed as Santa and by hosting toy distribution events throughout New York City and beyond.

Our organization originally began only delivering toys and relief items to thousands of individual families affected by Hurricane Sandy.

But due to our new official partnership with NYC Marines Toys for Tots organization, it will allow us the ability to expand our reach to not just those affected by Sandy, but will give us the capacity to now help many more children in need; whether it be a child who may be stricken with childhood cancer, disabled, homeless, in a foster home or economically disadvantaged, we will now be able to bring smiles to them as well. It really opens up the possibilities for who our organization can help.

With this extensive network built by the Secret Sandy Claus Project/America's Disaster Relief, there is so much potential for us to help the people who need it most. But we need your help. Please Donate or Join our team today!



[Links]
http://www.sscpny.org
http://www.sscpny.org/donate
https://www.facebook.com/SecretSandyClausProject

This year, the Secret Sandy Claus Project's is dramatically expanding its mission even further than year’s past to ensure as many children as possible can have the experience of Sandy Claus visiting them for Christmas. We are extremely proud that the Secret Sandy Claus Project is officially partneri…

10/29/2014

This day marks the two years that have passed since Hurricane Sandy passed through New York City as well as throughout much of the east coast. I hope many affected and those even displaced by the superstorm, men, women, children, and entire families, have found themselves or are beginning to find themselves to be living better since then, regardless but not in negligence of what was lost and cannot be replaced.

Have a frightful Halloween, a bountiful Thanksgiving, and a merriful Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.)!

Though much was lost after Sandy, much was not and much was also found--whether that be new friendships made or old friendships re-made, families becoming the community or the communities becoming the family--let us not forget that.

10/24/2014

Brace yourselves fellow New Yorkers and Global Citizens,

is here.

IS NOT airborne.

As of now, it is communicable solely by fluid contact and liquid exchange (i.e., an infected person can spread the virus through bodily fluids such as phlegm, saliva, vomit, possibly semen, and waste (e.g., urine and f***l matter)). The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms is 2 to 21 days. Humans are not infectious until they develop symptoms. First symptoms are the sudden onset of fever fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. Also, it is more accurate to understand Ebola as EVD (or Ebola Virus Disease). Check CDC and WHO websites for more information. If anyone would like to add more information about , you are absolutely welcome and encouraged to do so. Please, make sure it is credited and valid before posting. And, be willing to be referenced along with a reiteration of your addition.

1st confirmed case-
Doctors Beyond Borders NYC medical professional diagnosed with Ebola visited these venues:

1 Line; A Line; 7 Line; 147 St. station; 14 St. station; Gutter Bowling Alley in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Highline Park in Manhattan; and Uber car service.

----------

ADDITIONS:

• "It should be noted he did NOT exhibit symptoms while he was walking around NYC. Ebola is not transmittable until AFTER the infected's fever has subsided"
~Tom Faustino Chavez
facebook.com/tom.f.chavez

• "it also generally cannot be transmitted via subway poles or other surfaces, as the virus dies upon drying out. so unless someone sneezes into your face and has ebola symptoms, you should be ok."
~James Lewis Sugarman
facebook.com/jsugarman

• "If anyone wants to stay abreast of developments, or wants to volunteer their time doing social media management for our group, I am an admin on Ebola Virus Info [https://www.facebook.com/ebolavirusinfo]. I also want to reach out to others in the Social Media space as contributors, bloggers, editors, managers, etc, to come join our sister project, Ebola Social Media Coalition [https://www.facebook.com/groups/ebolasocialmediacoalition/].

"Lastly, there's a lot of fear and bad information swirling about the potential risks. For now, you are generally very safe from the exotic Ebola, but are at risk from the all-too-mundane threats of influenza. So get your flu shot!

"If you want to understand more about the nature of the transmission of ebola, please read factual articles. Do not just listen to a quick "We are all going to die!" FB post or tweet.

"For example, before anyone goes off half-cocked about "airborne" ebola, please read the article I wrote attached to this graphic:

"https://www.facebook.com/ebolavirusinfo/photos/a.1453667844917421.1073741828.1448912468726292/1491708327780039/"
~Peter Corless
facebook.com/GarethBeaumains

--EBOLA VIRUS INFO (page)
https://www.facebook.com/ebolavirusinfo

--EBOLA SOCIAL MEDIA COALITION (Facebook Group)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ebolasocialmediacoalition/

--ARTICLE PROVIDED
https://www.facebook.com/ebolavirusinfo/photos/a.1453667844917421.1073741828.1448912468726292/1491708327780039/

09/20/2014

The People's is tomorrow. Who's in?
Calling all Community Members and Leaders,
New Yorkers, Americans, and Global Citizens.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND SHARE THIS POST.

11/28/2013

Happy To All!

11/21/2013

House Mold and Mildew on the Rise in Winter Months

U.S. Sunlight Corporation raises awareness of mold and mildew risks in houses, especially during the winter months. Millions of people suffer from allergies throughout the winter months due to mold lurking often unseen in their homes.

Mold growth is attributed to three factors: moisture, warmth and organic material. Unfortunately, in the winter months, these three factors often come together in the home’s attic space. As warm air rises into the attic, the warm air meets with the underside of the roof causing condensation. For this reason, it is not suggested to keep an attic warm throughout the winter months as a “heat barrier” to the cold outside. In fact, the condensation created in a warm attic during the winter months drips onto the insulation making it much less effective. Instead, rely on adequate insulation between the attic and living spaces. Additionally, moisture rises into the attic from the home’s daily activities such as the dishwasher, showers and cooking. A warm, moist attic and organic materials such as building materials and household items being stored create an environment for mold and mildew to flourish. For these reasons, it is essential to address the attic space of a home in order to ensure a healthy home.

http://www.auntiegen.com/mold_prevention.html

AuntieGen Mold Remediation keeps you safe and healthy in your home and your communities. We provide protection and services for: Residential Buildings, Commercial Sites, Industrial Facilities, Public & Private Institutions, Schools, Health Care Facilities, Property Management Companies, New Building...

11/13/2013

If you live in the area and would like to attend a fundraising event benefitting as well as Survivors of , please consider the UWSLoves fundraiser coming up on 11/22

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sandy-one-year-laterhaiyan-typhoon-fundraiser-tickets-8532566135?utm_campaign=order_confirm&ref=eemailordconf&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb_email&utm_term=eventname

As the 1 year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy just passed, many communities are still recovering. That coupled with the recent devestation in the Phillippines from the Haiyan Typhoon, we hope you can join us on November 22nd to raise money for families still in need, collect food for Thanksgiving,…

11/12/2013

The “Sandy Tracker Bill" or 1040-A

City Councilman Donovan Richards Introduced this bill, which would create an online database of expenditures of Hurricane Sandy recovery and rebuilding funds coming to NYC.
The latest version of the bill, negotiated by Finance Counsel and OMB/other agencies, can be found on this link:

[Provided Link]
http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1419832&GUID=5902C0D5-CDF7-492C-AD73-DFA089487BCC&Options=ID|Text|&Search=int+1040

[Event Link]
https://www.facebook.com/events/708244822521349/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the creation of a database to track the expenditure of funds in connection with recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

10/12/2013

Serve The People Not The Party: End The Government Shutdown, Come to Compromise http://t.co/jkbxZUw2jx via