Five Towns: Sunday Morning Achiezer Hurricane Update

We hope that our community has had a restful and uplifting shabbos as we continue our work together in trying to restore some desperately needed normalcy to our lives.

Many community leaders, rabbis, and activists from every corner of our community met for many hours tonight, and what you are about to read is a detailed compilation of all those efforts. We will make sure to give proper recognition to all the wonderful mosdos and people involved after this crisis is behind us. Please take 5 minutes to read through all the listed details.

Food:

Due to the overwhelming requests received, we have now set up 2 food distribution centers for today.

For the Far Rockaway/Lawrence area there will be fresh meals at Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv, 1 Cedar Lawn Avenue.

There will also now be a Cedarhurst/Woodmere/Hewlett location at the Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd.

Lunch and dinner will be served at both locations, with the meals starting at 12:30 PM. We will have staff on hand at both locations who will be able to answer any questions you may have with regards to any services that are needed. If anyone has any questions regarding our new Five Towns Storm location please call Meir Krengle at
(917) 873-1643 Or Michael Krengle at (516) 554-3118

Shaimos:

There will be a shaimos truck parked at Shor Yoshuv from 12-3 PM today. Any shaimos may be dropped off there free of charge. Additionally we have arranged a shaimos drop off point for the Cedarhurst/Woodmere/Hewlett area also at the Young Israel of Woodmere. There will be a designated spot at the shul for the drop off, and the materials will be picked up by our truck.

Clothing:

Dozens and dozens of brand new racks of clothing are now available to anyone across the community. They will be distributed with no questions asked, in a dignified manner. We are asking any volunteers that are able to assist with the setup of clothing to please report to Shor Yoshuv today at 10 AM. From 12-3 PM the clothing will be available to anyone who needs.

Laundry:

We have received many requests regarding the inability to wash fresh laundry due to the lack of electric.

Through the dedicated work of several individuals we have been able to work out a special service for members of Far Rockaway/ Bayswater, and the Five Towns.

There will be 3 drop off points today, and the laundry should be there by 1 PM. Each family may drop off 2 full bags of laundry (please close bags well) and we will have it returned within 24-36 hours.

Bayswater dropoff-Young Israel of Bayswater, 2716 Healy Avenue.

Far Rockaway/Lawrence drop off-Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv, 1 Cedar Lawn Avenue.

Cedarhurst/Woodmere/Hewlett dropoff-Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd.

Special Relief Fund:

As many people know our community has launched an emergency relief fund for those who have been affected financially by Hurricane Sandy. 100% of the funds raised will go directly to members of our community who have been hurt. If anyone requires assistance or information about this fund, you may call our hotline, or email us at [email protected].

Cleaning/Pumping:

We will have several crews available today to help clean, shlep, and pump out water-filled basements. If you require such a service you may call our office hotline, or 347-752-1400. You may also email [email protected].

If you are able to volunteer for any of these services we ask you to contact these numbers as well.

Shelter:

Numerous people from our community were graciously hosted over the weekend by members of our community, Queens, and Brooklyn.

If you are still in need of shelter/temporary place to stay please call our office, or email us at [email protected] and arrangements will be made.

FEMA:

We understand that there are an endless amount of questions and confusion regarding FEMA claims, insurance filings, and legal questions.

We are in the midst of creating a community task force that will exclusively deal with all of these issues. We are working to gather and make available as much information as possible, and hope to have this vital service available to the community by the beginning of the week.

Electric:

LIPA representatives have told us that the restoration is fully underway. We know that this information doesn’t help for the many of you that are still in the dark, especially with the conflicting timetables constantly being heard. We will work extremely hard to forward as much concrete information that we can possibly find out. We strongly feel that as long as you are able to make living arrangements in areas that have electricity, it is safer for you to continue to do so until power is restored.

We understand that there are certain requests and needs that don’t fit into a specific box or category. If you have any questions, concerns, or specific issues please call the Achiezer community hotline at 516-791-4444.

{Matzav.com Newscenter}