Occupy Sandy is spectacular. I just sent them $100. You can donate here: https://www.wepay.com/donations/occupy-sandy-cleanup-volunteers
On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > from SLATE: > Is Occupy Wall Street Outperforming the Red Cross in Hurricane Relief? > > By Katherine Goldstein > > Posted Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, at 2:59 PM ET > > In Sunset Park, a predominantly Mexican and Chinese neighborhood in > South Brooklyn, St. Jacobi’s Church was one of the go-to hubs for > people who wanted to donate food, clothing, and warm blankets or > volunteer help other New Yorkers who were still suffering in the > aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. On Saturday, Ethan Murphy, one of the > people heading the kitchen operation, estimated they would prepare and > send out 10,000 meals to people in need. Thousands and thousands of > pounds of clothes were being sorted, labeled, and distributed, and > valuable supplies like heaters and generators were being loaded up in > cars to be taken out to the Rockaways, Staten Island and other places > in need. However, this well-oiled operation wasn’t organized by the > Red Cross, New York Cares, or some other well-established volunteer > group. This massive effort was the handiwork of none other than Occupy > Wall Street—the effort is known as Occupy Sandy. > > The scene at St. Jacobis on Saturday was friendly, orderly chaos. > Unlike other shelters that had stopped collecting donations or were > looking for volunteers with special skills such as medical training, > Occupy Sandy was ready to take anyone willing to help. A wide range of > people pitched in, including a few small children making peanut butter > sandwiches, but most volunteers were in their 20s and 30s. A large > basement rec room had become a hive of vegetable chopping and clothes > bagging. They held orientations throughout the day for new volunteers. > One of the orientation leaders, Ian Horst, who has been involved with > a local group called Occupy Sunset Park for the past year, says he was > “totally blown away by the response” and the sheer numbers of people > who showed up and wanted to help. He estimated that he’d given an > orientation to 200 people in the previous hour. > > By midday, a line stretched all the way down the block of people who’d > already attended orientation and were waiting for rides to be > dispatched to volunteer. Kiley Edgley and Eric Schneider had been > waiting about 20 minutes and were toward the front of the line. Like > several people I spoke to, the fact that this effort was being > organized by the occupy movement wasn’t a motivating factor—they found > out about the opportunity to volunteer online and just wanted to help. > > So how did an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, best known as a > leaderless movement that brought international attention to issues of > economic injustice through the occupation of Zucotti Park in the > financial district last year, become a leader in local hurricane > relief efforts? Ethan Murphy, who was helping organize the food at > St. Jacobis and had been cooking for the occupy movement over the past > year, explained there wasn’t any kind of official decision or > declaration that occupiers would now try to help with the hurricane > aftermath. “This is what we do already, “ he explained: Build > community, help neighbors, and create a world without the help of > finance. Horst said, “We know capitalism is broken, so we have > already been focused on organizing to take care of our own [community] > needs.” He sees Occupy Sandy as political ideas executed on a > practical level. > > As frustration grows around the city about the pace and effectiveness > of the response from FEMA, and other government agencies and the Red > Cross, I imagine both concerned New Yorkers and storm victims alike > will remember who was out on the front lines. > -- > Jim Devine / If you're going to support the lesser of two evils, at > the very least you should know the nature of that evil. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
