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<div id="blog-header-banner" class="blog-type-author clearfix"><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/171020/occupy-sandy-efforts-highlight-need-solidarity-not-charity">http://www.thenation.com/blog/171020/occupy-sandy-efforts-highlight-need-solidarity-not-charity</a>
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<h2 property="dc:title"><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/171020/occupy-sandy-efforts-highlight-need-solidarity-not-charity" title="Occupy Sandy Efforts Highlight Need for Solidarity, Not Charity">Occupy Sandy Efforts Highlight Need for Solidarity, Not Charity</a></h2>
<div class="byline" style="font-size: 14px; "><a href="http://www.thenation.com/authors/allison-kilkenny">Allison Kilkenny</a> <span class="timestamp"><abbr class="published" title="2012-11-05T09:30:06-18000">on November 5, 2012 - 9:30 AM ET</abbr></span></div>
<div class="content"><p style="font-size: 14px; ">Hurricane Sandy, the unprecedented superstorm
that ravaged the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States, left
large swaths of New York City destroyed and ultimately killed 109
people in the US alone. In addition to experiencing trauma and shock,
many resident now express frustration with lagging federal aid and
assistance from other aid agencies like the Red Cross.</p><p style="font-size: 14px; "><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/11/staten-island-fema-sandy" target="_blank">Vincent Ignizio</a>,
a New York City Councilman representing Staten Island’s 51st District,
blames the gas shortage for hurting the recovery effort. Five-hour-long
waits for gas have resulted in citizens’ being highly frugal with their
commutes, and may be hindering aid, according to Ignizio.</p><p style="font-size: 14px; ">“People who want to volunteer…are stymied from doing so,” he said.</p><p style="font-size: 14px; ">And while the Defense Department recently <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/business/military-to-deliver-fuel-to-storm-region.html" target="_blank">dispatched 24 million gallons of fuel</a>
to the region, many citizens haven’t seen the military, or the Red
Cross, since the storm hit. While FEMA workers were spotted recently in
Staten Island, other citizens have received help from an entirely
separate source:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; "> Occupy Wall Street.</span></p><p style="font-size: 14px; ">Though numerous obituaries have been written about Occupy, the
movement experienced a spike in activity in Sandy’s wake. Occupy Sandy,
as the effort has been branded, arose quickly in the aftermath of the
storm, setting up local community hubs to dispense water, food and aid,
and form groups to help communities pump water from their houses and
clean up the vast quantities of rubble left in Sandy’s wake. <a href="http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/" target="_blank">Distribution centers and volunteer hubs</a>
are now located in Sunset Park, Astoria, Brighton Beach, DUMBO, East
Village, Lower East Side, Jersey City, Red Hook, Rockaway, and Staten
Island. (<em>photo of volunteer hub by Sarah Jaffe</em>)</p></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>