Hurricane Sandy Relief: How You Can Help

Merrimack and most of New Hampshire was largely spared from catastrophic damage from Hurricane Sandy, but residents in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other coastal areas were not so lucky.

Patch has gathered some local resources if you want to help in relief efforts.

Volunteers in New Jersey are being coordinated through an emergency response hotline, 1-800-JERSEY-7 (1-800-537-7397). Alternate numbers, for when the hotline isn’t staffed, include 609-775-5236 and 908-303-0471 or e-mails can be sent to Rowena.Madden@sos.state.nj.us.

The New York City agency NYC Service is coordinating volunteers for various relief projects in New York City. Go to its Facebook page or e-mail nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov with your name and e-mail address.

The American Red Cross is collecting funds and coordinating blood donations. The organization sheltered more than 3,000 people across nine states during the worst of the storm. You can donate $10 by phone by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999.

Sandy has caused the cancellation of about 300 American Red Cross blood drives.

There are numerous Red Cross blood drives still scheduled in November in the Greater Merrimack area, including one at St. James United Methodist Church  – Brandon Snell's Heroes Blood Drive – on Nov. 12, as well as ones at St. John Neumann Church on Nov. 13 and 20, on at Our Lady of Mercy Church on Nov. 29 and several more throughout Nashua, Bedford and Manchester.

“Patients will still need blood despite the weather,” said Dr. Richard Benjamin, chief medical officer of the Red Cross, in a statement.  

To schedule a blood donation at a center near you or for more information about giving blood or platelets, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) takes donations to rescue and shelter animals affected by the storm. Nearly 300 animals are staying with their owners in shelters in the New York City area, the agency said.

The ASPCA is also setting up a distribution center in Syracuse, N.Y., with 4,000 sheltering units, which contain pet food, crates, food bowls, toys and anything else an animal may need.

The Salvation Army: You can donate $10 to the Salvation Army by texting “STORM” to 80888. If you are already volunteer-certified, you can sign up to help out with disaster relief.

AmeriCares: You can donate to AmeriCares’ relief fund to help the organization, which is distributing supplies to 130 clinics in the 13 states affected by Sandy.

Locally, a family-run Bedford nonprofit, Color My World, is collecting hygiene kits to send to Hurricane Sandy Victims. Read more about how you can create kits to drop off at several locations to be collected and distributed by Color My World.

To follow news from some of the most affected areas and see how local residents are faring, here are links to a few Patch sites:

Greenwich Patch (CT)

Hoboken Patch

Ocean City Patch 

Point Pleasant Patch

Do you know of any groups in the Merrimack area organizing supplies or donations for Hurricane Sandy victims? Tell us in the comments.