We were in the Staten Island and the Rockaways on Monday and Tuesday installing and distributing more solar light and phone charger kits for people still without power. As before, please consider donating to the relief groups or purchasing needed gear through Amazon’s Occupy Sandy’s Registry page.
New Dorp in Staten Island was particularly hard hit by Sandy. The Hallowed Sons Motorcycle Club responded by setting up a relief center there, coordinating lots of volunteer work and patrolling the area in the evening. We visited and set up several phone charging stations up on their tents and they are charging from them today.
The Rockaways were cold and wet on Tuesday (although nice and sunny today, thankfully) and there weren’t a lot of residents out on the street in the area East of 45th Street, but we talked to those that we found and if they didn’t have a generator, we offered to install the phone charger and light. Two staff-members from FEMA who were going door-to-door made suggestions about which houses to visit. Residents also introduced us to their neighbors who they though could use a kit.
The good news about Voltaic installing the systems is that we get the panels positioned properly and have some time to explain to the end customers how to use everything. We also get hugs, smiles and very direct data about how to improve the product.
Direct distribution is, however, very resource intensive. We distributed a small number of kits to staff at three locations: Occupy at 113th, Occupy HQ near 39th Street and Rockaway Taco. These can be brought up to deserving residents by people making deliveries or medical assessments.
Glad to see these kits in action and going to good use. I noticed they were available again on the site and placed an order for two more. Great work guys!