The media was all over George Bush and his response to Katrina but they are now in short supply of a spotlight when it comes to the victims of Sandy in Staten Island and the failure of the Obama administration.
In their words "%^&$ FEMA."
Residents of Staten Island, New York are cold, homeless, and fed up with the lack of federal help more than a week after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the area and less than 24 hours after being hit with a more powerful than expected nor'easter.
“We’ve seen one FEMA car in a week,” Gennaro said. “I am embarrassed of my country, my government, the media… The 150% of the supplies we are providing are from our neighbors.”
Gennaro, vice president for a private charter jet company based in New York City, says both FEMA and the Red Cross have been non-existent and he has been helping to coordinate rebuilding efforts with neighbors on the island instead.
“They knew water was coming a mile in and told people to leave - OK,” Gennaro said of FEMA. “What the **** was the day after plan? Obama got re-elected based on his response. What *&%$*&;@ Sandy Relief? The same response we saw in Libya, my family members, my countrymen are dying.”
In fact, the garbage men have been more helpful, he said.
“They deserve purple hearts,” he says.
The Obama administration have left them stranded, homeless and cold, but they aren't giving up, they are simply doing for themselves, their communities, what the Obama administration isn't doing:
A lifelong Staten Island resident, Gennaro, is recruiting volunteers for the local Brown Cross and the Gateway Rotorary Foundation to organize supply posts and dispatches along the island. So far, they have an estimated 2,000 volunteers, many contractors, who are taking matters into their own hands by fixing homes, draining basements, and clearing debris.
Gennaro says they are in need of building supplies – not food - and private donations that can go directly to families. He guarantees 90% will go directly to buying warehouse and building materials. Things like electrical panels, circuit breakers, sheet rock, roofing, boilers, etc.
“We are not leaving our properties for other people to rebuild. There is nowhere for these people to go,” he said of countless families with devastated homes who he’s seen on his drives throughout the island. “You have to rebuild quickly. We got to get back up.”
To donate funds to Staten Island Residents go to https://www.fundraise.com/sandyrelief
. To donate building supplies send to Gateway Rotary Foundation-Brown Cross. 463 Mill RD 10306 e-mail Browncross@gmail.com. Or send checks to the Gateway Rotary Foundation-Brown Corss to PO BOX 50168 Staten Island NY 10305.