Robbinsville Relief Effort-Ocean Springs Update

Robbinsville Relief Effort for Ocean Springs Update

09/22/2005

Relief effort gets 'unbelievable' response

By: Lauren Burgoon , Staff Writer

Published in the Messenger Press: http://www.messengerpress.com

Donations exceed expectations for Hurricane Katrina recovery work.

WASHINGTON — "This has been unbelievable."
   Jodi Stephens is not exaggerating as she describes the community's response to Robbinsville Relief Effort — the town's campaign to send much-needed supplies and food to Ocean Springs, Miss. — with more than 75 volunteers spending countless hours sorting and loading donations, a constant flow of cash donations, and two truckloads of supplies and counting. The signs of Washington's enthusiasm for Hurricane Katrina recovery go on.
   Washington and nearby towns have given so many items that the first shipment of supplies sent last week made just a dent in the donations stored at the Fire Department. A second tractor-trailer is nearly filled and a third truck could be needed to drive the boxes to Mississippi. Organizers have extended the deadline for donations to Oct. 1 in the hopes that the third truck will indeed be required.
   "It's been such a great response. To fill a truck that size once is unbelievable," Ms. Stephens, a relief effort organizer, said Tuesday. "The second truck is filling up fast. It's just been wonderful."
   Robbinsville Relief Effort kicked off days after Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of the Gulf Coast. While places like New Orleans drew much of the attention, many suburban areas — hit hard, but without many businesses to assist in the economic recovery — were overlooked. Ocean Springs, a bedroom community of 17,000 set eight miles from Biloxi, became Washington's "adopted" town and the donations soon poured in from civic groups, residents, schoolchildren and municipal employees.
   Just as heartening, Ms. Stephens said, was the response from neighboring towns such as Hightstown, Lawrence, Upper Freehold and Howell, whose donations helped fill up the first truckload. The effort also got a big boost from the Clifton Mill development in Bordentown Township.
   "They pulled up last week with two trailers full of stuff and 10 cars behind them, beeping and waving," Ms. Stephens recalled. "It brought tears to our eyes. People were actually crying. It was such a wonderful thing to see."
   There were moist eyes in Mississippi too, from Ocean Springs police officers who received a police car and two SUVs from Washington. The township was set to retire the three vehicles soon and decided instead to donate them. Mayor Dave Fried, police Chief Martin Masseroni and four police officers returned this week from delivering the vehicles. The storm destroyed five Ocean Spring police cars and left the rest overused and in various states of disrepair.
   Washington's gift will live on in Oceans Springs, the police chief, Kerry Belk, said Tuesday.
   "We decided to leave the color scheme of Washington Township on the SUVs and only change the shield. The back of the cars will say they were donated by Washington Township for hurricane relief. When people in our community see that and the color scheme rolling through town, it will serve as a visual reminder of the help we received," Chief Belk said.
   Oceans Springs is slowly recovering from Katrina, but the devastation that greeted Washington's convoy was worse than expected.
   "It's bad down there, it really is," Mayor Fried said. "There has been so much devastation. It's really awful ... but they're really touched that people from so far away are coming to help."
   The mayor described an area still in emergency mode more than three weeks after the hurricane hit. About a half-mile of nearby Biloxi is literally gone, washed away by the storm. Around Ocean Springs, people wait in line for two hours to receive supplies and meals. Those without cars depend on deliveries from relief workers. A reverend runs an aid center, working 12 hours a day in a non-air conditioned warehouse. Ten police officers and 12 firefighters lost their homes, but continued to work 18-hour shifts since the hurricane.
   Ocean Springs' economic recovery will take a colossal effort. Mayor Fried said about 50 percent of the town's revenue is lost, both from businesses and taxpayers who left for good or lost their jobs and cannot afford taxes.
   But the police chief says his "resilient people" are slowly getting back on their feet. Every day it gets a little bit better, Chief Belk said optimistically. Still, Ocean Springs is nervously eyeing Hurricane Rita, a storm expected to make landfall along parts of the Gulf Coast this weekend.
   If Rita does further damage to Ocean Springs, Washington will be ready to send down supplies. Ms. Stephens said Bohern's Moving & Storage is on board to donate the truck space and driver to take the second load down soon, as the company did with the first truck. No more clothing is needed, but items like new backpacks, school supplies, over the counter medicine, latex gloves, masks, bleach, building tarps and tools are on the organizers' wish list.
   A full list of needed materials can be viewed at www.washington-twp.org. The relief group also accepts cash donations. Items can be dropped off at the Fire Department on Route 130.

09/15/2005

Washington adopts Gulf Coast town

By: Lauren Burgoon , Staff Writer

Published in the Messenger Press: http://www.messengerpress.com

Trucks travel down to Ocean City, Miss., Washington's newly adopted town, to bring supplies and donations to the Gulf Coast region.

   WASHINGTON — Few, if any, township residents have ever set foot in Ocean Springs, Miss. In fact, few had probably heard of the small Gulf Coast town until recently.
   But that unfamiliarity hasn't ebbed an overwhelming deluge of supplies and donations for the Mississippi town ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
   With one truck already headed south and another waiting to take off this weekend, Ocean Springs is all many townspeople are thinking of as Washington's arguably largest — and certainly unprecedented — coordinated relief effort goes into overdrive for a massive shipment of food, clothing, cleaning products and pet supplies. The trucks are covering 1,050 miles to bring the goods to Ocean Springs, Washington's official "adopted" town as a sister city for hurricane relief.
   "This is just amazing. Amazing," organizer Sue Gross said Monday, standing among the heap of donations at the Fire Department. "Everyone has been incredibly generous and everyone is pitching in to make this work."
   At a time when many people hoping to aid Katrina victims are cutting checks to relief organizations, Washington is taking it one step further with the Robbinsville Relief Effort. Helping Ocean Springs has become a true communitywide effort.
   Schoolchildren are bringing in supplies from home, senior citizens are sending in donations and clubs and civic groups are joining in as well. Both the Township Council and Board of Education have thrown their support behind the initiative, while dozens of residents are logging countless hours organizing and loading trucks.
   Sonja Walter, Township Council president and director of the local Girl Scouts, is one of the volunteers who spent this week organizing clothing donations.
   "There are bags and bags and bags upon bags of clothing," she said. "You think you're making progress getting them sorted, but people are showing up every 20 minutes with more donations. It's been great."
   Ms. Walter mobilized her 500 Girl Scouts in Washington and Allentown for a canned food drive set to culminate this weekend with pickups in neighborhoods.
   Local businesses are doing their part too. Bohren's Moving & Storage on Applegate Drive is providing the trucks and drivers free of charge — a large order, Ms. Gross said, since the fuel alone will cost about $2,000 roundtrip per truck. Relief organizers started approaching other businesses for equipment or cash donations this week.
   The town's enthusiasm for the project is evident just by visiting the Fire Department, the designated drop-off point, where piles of supplies have poured in since Washington adopted Ocean Springs last week. Organizers are hoping the donations continue to flow in until Saturday, when the second truck will be loaded.
   The adoption, Ms. Gross' brainchild, followed a chain reaction last week to become reality. She discussed the plan with her husband, Jon Gross, who called Mayor Dave Fried, who mentioned the idea to Township Administrator Mary Caffrey, who is from Mississippi and knew that Ocean Springs, a bedroom community, did not have the industry or manufacturing base to aid in its economic recovery.
   "Ocean Springs is very similar to Robbinsville and that's the kind of town we wanted to help," Ms. Gross explained. "This is a town that was just devastated by the hurricane. A lot of people lost their homes, a lot of people lost their jobs. But they aren't getting any of the attention or support from the government and they should be. They need our help."
   Ocean Springs is admittedly wealthier than areas like New Orleans, which has captured most of the attention since Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. But that's exactly why the community needs help, Ms. Gross said.
   Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran seems to agree. She could not be reached this week for comment because of irregular phone service in Mississippi, but told The Clarion-Ledger out of Jackson, Miss., on Sept. 6 that the town felt "forgotten" in Katrina's aftermath. Residents have started to slowly trickle back into their neighborhoods only to find all their possessions ruined and cars flooded. According to Mississippi news reports, 30 percent of Ocean Springs homes are destroyed.
   "The mayor is a single mom who had only been in office for 90 days when the hurricane hit," said Mayor Fried, who has spoken with Mayor Moran several times. "She's been living in her office and cooking on a propane stove."
   While much of Washington concentrates on needs like bleach, bedding, school supplies and over-the-counter medicine, township officials are turning the focus to Ocean Springs' municipal needs.
   "It's not only the people who need help. The town needs help with their long-term planning and help restoring their major governmental needs. All of their equipment was ruined, " Mayor Fried said. "This is a marathon, not a sprint, for us."
   Washington is lending Ocean Springs police and municipal cars, plus zoning and planning advice, especially with code enforcement as the town rebuilds. Mayor Fried said Bob Corby and Jack West, Washington's construction official and engineer, have offered their expertise to Ocean Springs. The mayor also plans to head to Ocean Springs this week to accompany the donations.
   Meanwhile, other towns are taking notice of Washington's adoption idea. Bordentown Township, Hopewell and Hightstown, among other towns, have pitched in with supplies and manpower hours and Ms. Gross hopes other New Jersey towns will consider adopting Gulf state communities.
   "We want this to continue as long as people need help," she said. "It's the right thing to do."
   A list of needed supplies is available on Washington's municipal Web site, www.washington-twp.org. Clothing and bottled water are not needed at this time. All donations can be dropped off at the Fire Department on Route 130. Cash donations should be made out to Robbinsville Relief Effort.