It has been a devastating week in Red Hook, but the outpouring of generosity has been both moving and humbling. In a matter of hours our community center transformed into an emergency response center in the middle of the community. Our staff, the majority of whom are residents who have not had electricity, heat or hot water since Monday, have been working 12 hours per day to respond to the intense community need.
Volunteers have poured through our doors and been assigned to staff the soup kitchen, distribute food and supplies in the Red Hook Houses, and to help the local businesses to begin to clean up from the storm. The devastation along Van Brunt Street and the Waterfront is severe. Here is a link to a clip from Democracy Now! about what is happening in Red Hook: click here to watch video http://www.democracynow.org/2012/11/2/battered_by_storm_residents_of_brooklyn
Thanks to many of our local community partners, we are beginning to disburse our efforts throughout the community, beginning tomorrow. For those of you who want to help, here are some opportunities for Saturday  and Sunday:

1) Donate supplies:
Flashlights, candles, batteries (C and D are best), paper towels, paper products, toiletries, new blankets, diapers
Deliver these to: Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 98 Richards Street/ Verona
St. entrance, 10am – 5pm Sat and Sun
Heavy Duty cleaning supplies: rags, gloves, trash bags, masks, mops, buckets, bleach, brooms, dehumidifiers, generators, pumps
Deliver these to: 402 Van Brunt Street, 10am – 5pm Sat and Sun
2) Donate food:
If you’d like to donate ready-to-serve meals,
Deliver to: Red Hook Initiative, 767 Hicks Street 10am – 6:30pm (close at 8pm)
If you’d like to donate canned goods/ non-perisable items,
Deliver to: Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 98 Richards Street, Red Hook
10am – 5pm Sat & Sun
3) Donate time:
If you would like to donate your time as a volunteer, go to Volunteer Headquarters:
402 Van Brunt Street, 10am – 5pm Sat and Sun. You  will be given a volunteer assignment.
We will need people to clean up  and do physical labor as well as distributing food, bringing meals to elderly, etc.
4) Donate money:
RHI is accepting contributions toward hurricane relief efforts in the community,
click to donate here
If you would like to donate money directly to businesses in the  community who need to re-build, we anticipate that they will have a way to do that by  the end of the weekend.
For regular updates throughout the day, please follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.
We  can not adequately express our thanks and gratitude to the hundreds of  people who have offered support over the last few days. Red Hook is an  incredible community.
We thank you for your help as we rebuild.
With much gratitude,
RHI staff and board