The entire federal family continues to support the states, communities, and tribes in their ongoing response efforts as they work to save lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), and other partners in this coordinated multi-agency response effort.
We salute individuals at every level of government, in nonprofit organizations, and in the private sector whose work is helping save lives, provide shelter, and rebuild communities.
Hundreds of national service members are deployed and before the recovery is complete, we expect thousands of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members to help in the recovery. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all of our members, state offices, and state commissions, all of whom are making possible this vital national service response to this unprecedented weather event.
For Those That Want to Help
Volunteer
- Affiliate with existing non-profit organizations before coming to the disaster area. Immediately following a disaster, a community can become easily overwhelmed by the amount of generous people who want to help. Contacting and affiliating with an established organization will help to ensure that you are appropriately trained to respond in the most effective way.
- Be safe: Do not self deploy until a need has been identified and the local community impacted has requested support. Wait until it is safe to travel to volunteer sites and opportunities have been identified. Once assigned a position, make sure you have been given an assignment and are wearing proper safety gear for the task.
- Be patient: Recovery lasts a lot longer than the media attention. There will be volunteer needs for many months, often years, after the disaster - especially when the community enters the long-term recovery period.
- National, state, and local nonprofits and public agencies will be looking for volunteers to help with the disaster recovery. Learn more by visiting the links below.
- National: American Red Cross
- Connecticut: American Red Cross Connecticut Chapter
- Massachusetts: Boston Cares
- New Jersey: New Jersey Emergency Response Hotline
- New York: New York Cares, American Red Cross: Greater New York Region, Long Island Volunteer Center, The Volunteer Center, NYC Service
- Pennsylvania: United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey
- Rhode Island: Serve Rhode Island
- Points of Light
Give Blood
The need for blood rises during disasters of this scale, and this problem is exacerbated in affected areas where blood drives may have been cancelled. You can locate information about donating through the American Red Cross or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
Cash Contributions
Cash donations are very useful in situations where supplies must be acquired quickly. This is the most efficient way to make an impact with your donations. If you need help in determining who to give to, the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website has a list of major nonprofits that are active in disaster work.
Don't Send Unsolicited Donations
One of the biggest issues around disasters is the amount of unsolicited item donations that start to come in immediately. It's better to wait until communities assess and confirm their needs before you start to send things in. At that time, you can make your donations through non-profits in the National Donations Management Network.
For the Press
- Hundreds of National Service Members on the Ground in Hurricane Sandy Recovery Efforts (11/2)
- Disaster Service Brief (11/1)
More Information
Regularly updated information about the National Service response to disaster, including deployments of AmeriCorps and FEMA Corps members, and Senior Corps volunteers.
CNCS Disaster Services Unit: More information about the CNCS Disaster Services unit including contact information and an archive of Disaster Briefs.
Social Media
- Serve.gov blog
- CNCS on Twitter
- CNCS on Facebook
- Serve.gov on Facebook
Please include the #SandyVolunteers hashtag to follow the conversation about national service and Hurricane Sandy on Twitter.
Hurricane Sandy information from USA.gov including how to get help, health and safety, and more.