UPDATE–Thanksgiving Volunteer Opportunities with OccupySandy

We have been informed by OccupySandy that the volunteer effort scheduled for 520 Clinton Ave., Brooklyn, will be closed on November 22nd, Thanksgiving Day. All willing to generously contribute their time on Thanksgiving Day should go to St. Jacobi Church, located at 5406 4th Ave. (Sunset Park), Brooklyn, NY 11220. Please see additional information on this event at http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/locations/.

Thanks you and Happy Thanksgiving!

Volunteer for Thanksgiving

Occupy Sandy

If you would like to volunteer on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22nd, join #OccupySandy from 8 AM – 4 PM, no sign up is required! They will be working to provide hot meals at the Church of St. Luke & St, Matthew at 520 Clinton Ave in Brooklyn.

Coney Island Generation Gap

Coney Island remains one of the worst affected areas in New York City. CIGG has a goal of distributing 2,000 turkeys to residents of this area.

Please help Wednesday, November 21st by:

1) Donating turkeys at 2904 Neptune Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224 from noon – 2pm;
2) Distributing turkeys from noon-3pm; OR
3) Dropping off warming/heating pads or blankets at above address.

For more info, contact Pamela Harris at kimosobbe@optonline.net or visit CIGG.

Transit Forward Coalition

Volunteers will be serving over 500 meals on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 22nd to those impacted by Hurricane Sandy. For more info, please visit www.transitforward.org or email yetta@yettakurland.com.

For a general list of ways to help out in the five boroughs, please visit WNYC.

Attend a Happy Hour for Hurricane Relief

Join the New York State Senate Democratic Conference for Sandy Relief Happy Hour at Local 138, located at 138 Ludlow between Stanton and Rivington Streets, on Tuesday, November 20th from 7 to 9 PM. There will be $3 well drinks, wine, and beer.

Please bring any of the following donations to help the relief effort: canned food, cleaning supplies (brooms, mops, gloves, heavy garbage bags, bleach, cleaning sprays, paper towels, and sponges), flashlights and batteries, baby supplies (diapers, formula, and accessories), and medicines (cough medicine, BAND-AIDS, Neosporin, Ace bandages, Advil, Tylenol). Gift cards (for supermarkets, Home Depot, etc.) are also in high demand.

Email Deanna Bitetti for more info and RSVP on Facebook.

Sign our Petition

New Yorkers have provided food and hope to thousands in need, but our neighbors are still missing vitally important resources, including warm shelter and much-needed access to medical care. Please sign our petition currently featured on change.org so we can push our elected officials to demand resources for the 29,000 people, including families, who are still waiting for these necessary and life-saving supplies! It only takes two minutes to participate in something powerful, so please SIGN ON! More than 10,000 people have already signed on. Help us to make it 15,000.

And don’t forget to use your social media skills to encourage your friends and family to do the same. Check out the following tips:

Facebook

Post articles, media, and images related to what’s going on in the Rockaways and link to the petition in those.

Twitter

Tweet why you think this campaign is important. You can target your tweets to decision makers such as @DRichards13 (staffer to City Councilman Sander), @nycoem (NYC Office of Emergency Management), @NYGovCuomo, @MikeBloomberg, @FEMASandy, @BilldeBlasio (Public Advocate) or celebrities like Kelly Ripa. For example, “@kellyripa Thanks for raising $$ for storm survivors with no heat. We’re trying to protect them from hypothermia, will you help by RTing our petition? http://chn.ge/XMDUBD”

Assist with Community Clean Up in the Rockaways

Join Hurricane Sandy Clean-up Day this Sunday November 25th from 10am-4pm. Volunteers will be asked to do a variety of tasks including canvassing the neighborhood to assess need, cleaning up homes (may involve some heavy lifting), distributing food and cooking,

For more information and to RSVP please contact: Michelle Masone at mmasone@mwpclaw.com or 516-353-4239. There will be a bus leaving from Manhattan, so please email Deanna Bitetti or Jordan Reisner if you would like to reserve a space on the bus. Seating is limited.

Thank you for your continued commitment to change.

Aliya Quraishi and the Greater NYC for Change team

This past week Greater NYC for Change and more than 45 other organizations signed on to a letter calling on the Governor and Mayor to acknowledge the problems facing the disadvantaged residents of Far Rockaway and Hamilton Beach after Hurricane Sandy, including death from hypothermia, lack of hot food and nutrient supplements, and risk of asphyxiation from using gas stoves to heat apartments.

We’ve been hugely successful in bringing attention and help to these areas, which can be difficult to access and include some of New York City’s poorest residents. But on the eve of the President’s visit to survey the area and a proposed $30 billion relief package from Governor Cuomo for New York State, we need your help to make sure the needs of Far Rockaway and Hamilton Beach residents are addressed. It only takes a few quick phone calls to elected officials, and we’ve supplied the numbers to call and the script below. A few minutes of your time can insure that our neighbors get the resources they need, for now and to rebuild their futures.

Here are the elected offices to call today:

Governor Andrew Cuomo

• Albany Office- Phone: 518-474-8390

Senator Joseph Addabbo:

• Albany Office- Phone: 518-455-2322; Fax: 518-426-6875
• District Office- Phone: 718-738-1111; Fax: 718-322-5760

Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder

• Temporary Office- Phone: 718-805-0950; Fax: 718-805-0953

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn

• District Office- Phone: 212-564-7757; Fax: 212-564-7347
• Legislative Office- Phone: 212-788-7210; Fax: 212-788-7207

City Council Member James Sanders

• District Office- Phone: 718-527-4356; Fax: 718-527-4402
• Legislative Office- Phone: 212-788-7216; Fax: 212-227-1210

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall

• Office- Phone: 718-286-3000; Fax: 1-718-286-2876

Thank you for your dedication to this effort. Remember, it’s because of your support and advocacy that the residents of these deeply afflicted areas are being helped. We ARE making a difference in their lives!

SCRIPT/E-BLAST:
Hello, this is [your name] with [your organization/]. Can I speak to the staff member in charge of relief efforts from Hurricane Sandy?

Good morning/afternoon, [staff member name]. I’m calling on behalf of a coalition of more than 45 groups working with the New York Resilience Coalition to support relief efforts in Far Rockaway and Hamilton Beach. The situation facing the almost 80,000 residents there is still dire two weeks after the hurricane. With the return of freezing temperatures this week, we’re concerned for our neighbors since there have been deaths from hypothermia and asphyxiation and these severely damaged areas have received less relief support than others in New York.

Our volunteer efforts have secured funding for 100,000 body warmers to prevent hypothermia and portable toilets to improve hygiene and stop the spread of disease caused by raw sewage. However, these resources are not enough to stabilize the conditions in Hamilton Beach and Far Rockaway.

We’re asking elected officials to join us in calling for the resources to address these problems. We’re particularly concerned to make sure, as the President visits the area Thursday, that Far Rockaway and Hamilton Beach are included in Governor Cuomo’s $30 billion relief request for New York.

Can you and [Senator, Congressman, Assembly Member, Council Member, etc] help us make sure that residents’ needs are represented in requests to the President, the Governor, and the Mayor? [If response is positive, proceed to the next.] Here’s what we need:

Approval of a State EOC proposal for increased FEMA funding to provide warming stations, hot food, and increased medical support

Increased transportation for the evacuation of residents as well as temporary housing

These are the most pressing needs. Above all, we want to make sure that Far Rockaway and Hamilton Beach are included in the Governor’s request for relief and rebuilding.

Can we count on you to make sure these needs are acknowledged? [Note response.] Let me make sure I have your name spelled properly. [Check for spelling of name.] Someone will get back to you later about these areas. Thanks so much, [name].

Please note that our coalition’s letter to the Mayor and Governor, posted on Facebook, now has over 3,400 views. Please keep up with the progress by following Greater NYC for Change on Facebook!

An amazing coalition of progressive groups has joined forces to help the President win again in Pennsylvania. Simply put, Pennsylvania is one of the most crucial of swing states in the electoral math. At stake: all the advances we’ve fought for in Health Care Reform, LGBT rights, financial reform and many other key issues. Romney is beholden to the angry ideologues who have taken over his party. Join local activists as we canvass to keep PA blue, and have a great time doing it!

For all trips, meet at 24 Union Square East (in front of Babies ‘R Us, at 15th St).  $10 round trip – free for students.

Saturday, Oct. 6th: Meet at 8 AM, back by 8 PM

RSVP to Ethan at beyondtheframe@gmail.com with your cell phone number

Saturday, Oct. 13th: Meet at 8 AM, back by 8 PM

RSVP to Brett at bsaffer@gmail.com with your cell phone number

Saturday, Oct. 20th: Meet at 8 AM, back by 8 PM

RSVP to Kate Linker at kateplinker@gmail.com with your cell phone number

Saturday, Oct. 27th: Meet at 8 AM, back by 8 PM

RSVP to Tom at NYVolunteers@gmail.com or (646) 736-6177 with your cell phone number

Saturday, November 3rd: Meet at 8 AM, back by 8 PM

RSVP to Tom at NYVolunteers@gmail.com or (646) 736-6177 with your cell phone number

Tuesday, November 6th: Meet at 8 AM, back 8 PM [TIME BACK MAY BE LATER]

RSVP to Tom at NYVolunteers@gmail.com or (646) 736-6177 with your cell phone number

We are: ACT NOW, Chelsea Reform Democrats, DFNYC, Downtown Independent Democrats, Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats, Greater New York City for Change, Lower Manhattan Democrats, Manhattan Young Democrats, NYU Law Democrats, the Samuel L. Tilden Democratic Club, Stonewall Democrats, and Village Independent Democrats.

Join us in a volunteer recruitment drive at the Caribbean Day Parade on Labor Day, September 3, on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. Three million people will attend the parade & we have a great opportunity to gather more volunteers for bus trips, phone banks, and other efforts to re-elect President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

We’ll have three shifts of volunteers throughout the day (although everyone is welcome to stay for more than one, as many people have in previous years): 11am-1pm, 1pm-3pm, and 3pm-5pm.

Extra special bonus: The parade is a great opportunity to dance to Calypso & Soca, and to feast on lots of tasty West Indian food. Lots of amazing costumes, too! So say yes & sign up (you know you want to)!

Volunteers can sign up here.

For more details and/or any questions, please feel free to contact Ethan here.

This event is cosponsored by Greater NYC for Change and Democracy for NYC.