50th WNY Volunteer Deploys to Assist in Sandy Response

Susan Peek of Buffalo to work in Operations Management in Greater NY

Susan Peek of Buffalo

BUFFALO, NY, February 20, 2013 – Susan Peek of Buffalo travelled to the Greater NYC Region on Tuesday to volunteer with the ongoing American Red Cross relief and recovery efforts following Superstorm Sandy. Peek, who will work in Operations Management, is the 50^th volunteer from the eight-county Western New York region to deploy as part of the Sandy operation since the storm made landfall in late October, 2012. With several of those volunteers having served multiple deployments, the WNY Region has filled more than 67 assignments to date.

Nearly four months since Superstorm Sandy’s landfall, the Red Cross is still hard at work providing food, emotional support and long-term assistance. The Red Cross has been distributing an average of 50,000 meals and snacks each day in New York. Thanks to the public’s generous support, our work so far includes:

•          Serving nearly 13 million meals and snacks.
•          Handing out nearly 7 million relief items, including cold weather items and clean-up supplies.
•          Providing more than 112,000 health services and emotional support contacts for people who have been living in very tough conditions. 

WNY Regional Executive Director Nancy Blaschak continues to serve as Interim Sr. Director for the Sandy Long Term Recovery Project in NYC and Long Island. Part of the coordinated efforts in the coming weeks will include grants to support the work of a broad coalition of nonprofits. Already, the Red Cross has granted nearly $6 million to three food banks in New York, supported the work of Operation Hope to provide assistance and financial counseling to survivors, and committed $5 million to a mold remediation program to help New York residents clean up their homes. For the next several months, a big part of the recovery efforts will be working one-on-one with people who need some extra help, and this work is underway. For more on the Red Cross response to Sandy, visit www.redcross.org.