September 26, 2011
At a meeting between Bridge officers and Valley Clergy Sunday evening, president Dick Friend took a moment to summarize “the State of the Bridge”. He concluded with a reminder that it had been just one week since the community had turned out to entrust to the Bridge a warehouse full of furniture, and another full of clothing; and in a remarkable outpouring of generosity and compassion, $255,000 in cash donations. (Additional contributions have since brought the total to just over $265,000.) In that one week, so much had changed, so much had happened, it was hard to believe that it was just 7 days.
In that week, thanks to the tireless energy and devotion of many Bridge volunteers, thanks to literally dozens of emails and phone calls every day, thanks to special meetings every day, but also thanks to the very good nature of the Valley community- its businesses, its public officials, its emergency response workers, and most of all its flood survivors- the Bridge came roaring up to speed.
It’s “Clothes Closet” ministry, normally open for just a few hours on a few days each week, is now open daily except Sundays, and has exploded from its small trailer to take over most of the North Waverly Chapel. A steady stream of individuals and families visits every day and gets outfitted with literally shopping-cart loads of clothing, small appliances and bedding. Hours are noon to 3, Monday Wednesday and Friday; 6:30 to 8:30 Tuesday and Thursday; and 9 to noon on Saturday. Call the church at 565-9342 for more information or to find out about volunteering.
The Helping Hands ministry, which normally picks up and delivers furniture, has temporarily been replaced with a self-service Furniture Warehouse. This past Saturday, 36 families loaded up pickup trucks and vans with beds, dressers, sofas, chairs, dinettes, microwaves, TV’s, bicycles, and countless other accessories. About 75 loads went out altogether. There is still lots left, but the selection has diminished, so we will be interviewing shoppers to find out if they were able to get what they needed. If not, we will work at finding it for them. We will be open Wednesdays 9 to noon, and Saturdays 10 to 2. Donations may be dropped off Thursday and Friday mornings from 9 to 11.
Our “Clearinghouse” is the place that people call to request financial assistance. In the first week, our single volunteer on our single phone line took about 200 phone calls and later returned another 200 that had to leave a message. All messages were returned within 24 hours. We had to explain that we do not give out cash, we only provide a voucher which is good at any Valley merchant (except the nationwide chains, Walmart/ Rite Aid/ CVS). We counseled callers on the best uses for the Bridge assistance: dehumidifier or heater or fans; security deposit on a new apartment; repairs to electrical service or furnace or water heater; maybe a utility bill. We also had to explain that, because our goal is to assist at least 500 households, the benefit per household is limited to about $450. (There is no hurry to use it up quickly because we keep track of how much each household has received.)
By Sunday we had already expended or committed $15,000, and provided an arsenal of equipment- generators, heaters, blower fans, dehumidifiers, power washers, etc. Some of this equipment is at Croft Lumber and can be signed out by any flood survivor.
The Bridge officers are all looking forward to a second week of serving our Penn York community… but hoping for the pace to settle down into “the new normal”.