Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort Donation

A BIG whopping thank you to my fabulous friends who came together for this wonderful cause. Together we raised almost $1,000! ALL that money was donated to
the church of Iglesia Pentecostal de Jesucristo Cristo Viene on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island. Mandy Bickerstaff personally delivered a check to them Wednesday night. Maggie, the wife of the reverend, has been leading the charge to feed those still reeling from the destruction multiple times a day. This money will go to support their continued meal service as well as provide money to defer the costs of rebuilding the church, which was badly damaged in the storm, so they can continue to provide such great services to the community and ensure that everyone is safe.

Copying this from Mandy Bickerstaff, who runs UWSLoves

Today we made a family and community happy. Augustine and Milagros, the reverends of the church, and the proud momma of Maggie, accepted the check for almost $1000 that was raised by the Artisanal Holiday Sale. Thank you to everyone that helped!

 ***Disclaimer: Excerpts have been taken from UWSLoves***

Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort is in Full Swing!

Almost 4 weeks since Hurricane Sandy hit (WOW!!! I can't believe how long it's been though it seems like yesterday!) & there are still so many people that are affected. Those that lost their homes have been put up in hotels, but many don't have enough money for food & supplies. My cousin, Mandy Bickerstaff, set up a grassroots fundraising group to help victims almost as soon as the storm hit and she's STILL helping them through her group, UWSLoves.

Being without power for 9 days ourselves and the gas shortage, I felt powerless to help. So, I enlisted the help of my wonderful artisan friends, who generously donated items to be auctioned off. 100% will be donated to UWSLoves to help fund the Winter Wishes project. This is a great way to buy something meaningful for a loved one for the holidays or a nice treat for yourself. Please share with friends and family!

CLICK HERE to view the Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort fundraiser album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.301970106570212&type=1

 runs through Monday night, 9PM EST, 11/26!

Help for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Living in Queens, NY and on Long Island for 33 years, I've lived through and experienced many hurricanes in my lifetime, but none that impacted as many and created the devastation that Hurricane Sandy did. We prepared and got the necessary supplies for several days in preparation for the storm. Got tons of advice from my wonderful Facebook friends too.

Our lights went out around 6PM Monday night, October 29th and they did not come back on until Tues night of the following week. Unlike so many others, fortunately, we did not sustain any property damage. As luck would have it, I had driven home from my mother's house in Queens to vote. Hubby and I were debating if we would return to Queens due to the gas shortage and long lines. As I was returning home from the post office, I got a call that power had been restored. My joy was overshadowed by the images I finally got to see online of the devastation so many others had endured. We lost the contents of our refrigerator and freezer, but many lost their homes and loved ones.

It was just as I signed onto facebook that I saw my son had shared a link from his cousin, Mandy Bickerstaff. We've known her since she was a little girl, but had lost touch. She's now living in NYC. Along with several of her friends, they took it upon themselves to do something! They're providing hot meals, sandwiches, clothing and supplies to those hit the hardest by the storm. They're doing all this is her small apartment in NYC. Her story is so inspirational. I knew I wanted to help in some way, but with the gas shortage and distance between us, I didn't know what to do. Mandy started a blog about their work, UWSLoves. Took me a few days to figure it out. UWS=Upper West Side....lol! She also has a facebook fan page, also called UWSLoves, which I hope you'll check out.

I decided to donate 100% of my bead sales to this wonderful cause. I wanted my money to go to the people directly rather than a big corporation, for obvious reasons and I knew that Mandy would make sure of that. I tallied up my sales total and was surprised and happy to see it add up to $136, which I'll be sending to UWSLoves. This is a very significant number in the Jewish religion. 18 stands for Chai, which is life. So, 136 is double Chai. Serendipity, or as we say in Yiddish, bashert!

I hope you'll find it in your hearts to give as well. Or if anyone has links to anyone in the food services industr, that might be willing to donate any food items that are sorely needed, please contact Mandy. Last week Serene Green, a farm from out east on Long Island donated 300 pounds of produce and through another connection the produce was driven into NYC via Hampton Jitney, who donated their services . She and her friends made some yummy looking dishes to feed those without power. It's so hard to see the images of the destruction! And sadly, there are still many without power that need our help.