Volunteers step up in Sandy cleanup

SUMMER DREAMING: A volunteer carries wood scattered by remnants of Hurricane Sandy past the Purple Ape on Winnapaug Road in Westerly. / COURTESY SERVE RHODE ISLAND
SUMMER DREAMING: A volunteer carries wood scattered by remnants of Hurricane Sandy past the Purple Ape on Winnapaug Road in Westerly. / COURTESY SERVE RHODE ISLAND

Trips to Misquamicut Beach in Westerly have been annual rites of summer for Michael Ziegler, district sales manager at Collette Vacations, since he was a child.
So when the remnants of Hurricane Sandy devastated the area’s beaches, salt ponds, homes and businesses last fall, Ziegler reached out to Collette President Daniel Sullivan about ways the Pawtucket tour firm could help.
“I am from northern Rhode Island, but grew up vacationing in Misquamicut, so when I saw it had been hit hard, I wanted to get a group together to help,” said Ziegler, of Burrillville.
Collette decided to donate $5,000 to a fund run by the Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Chamber of Commerce that makes grants to local businesses that suffered large losses in the storm.
And Ziegler led a group of seven Collette employees on a Saturday cleanup of the heavily damaged Andrea Hotel organized by Providence-based Serve Rhode Island.
The Collette group joined more than 1,000 volunteers from companies throughout the region to volunteer for Serve Rhode Island Sandy cleanup in Westerly.
Together with the Westerly Chamber, Serve Rhode Island has led a five-month effort to put the state’s southwest coast back on its feet.
And the campaign continues as the area makes a final push to prepare itself for the summer vacation season.
Even with snow lashing much of the state in early March, Serve Rhode Island was looking for volunteers to remove piles of debris pushed by wind and storm surge from Misquamicut into Winnapaug Pond.
“There is still debris cleanup, and depending on how many volunteers we get, it could take from two weeks to two months,” said Cyndi Myers, disaster-response coordinator for Serve Rhode Island. “The beaches’ businesses will be open, and now we are trying to make the ponds a top-line priority.” The list of people and businesses that have donated time and money to Sandy recovery is extensive.
Myers calculated that the 1,000 to 1,200 volunteers organized under Serve Rhode Island have put in more than 6,500 hours.
Of course, in the immediate aftermath of the storm, people and businesses were helping each other before anyone started keeping track.
From the beginning, food and water have been important donation items, and people in the building trades have made vital contributions of time and the use of equipment.
As the cleanup has progressed, items such as trash bags, work gloves, rubber boots and dust masks were needed as homes and stores dug out from the flotsam of the storm.
Smithfield-based Benny’s and North Kingstown-based Ocean State Job Lot were two early contributors of cleanup supplies.
When the main volunteer efforts were in full swing, feeding hundreds of workers in town for the day became critical. The Salvation Army made breakfast to feed volunteers and property owners for seven weekends and local restaurants kicked in with boxes of grinders for lunch.
With Misquamicut roads closed to traffic, The Washington Trust Co. ran a van service to Atlantic Ave., shuttling volunteers in and out of the flood zone.
“We would drive to get food and drop it off from business to business so they would not have to leave the property for fear of looting,” said Lisa Konicki, executive director of the Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Chamber of Commerce.
When companies called looking to send volunteers to help, organizers would have them “adopt” a particular business. In some cases volunteers picked the establishment they wanted to work with because of some connection. In others organizers paired them based on need.
Banks were well-represented, with both Citizens and Bank of America sending down contingents wearing company T-shirts. So far, Konicki said the Westerly Chamber Foundation has raised $319,000 in direct contributions, event proceeds and fundraising sales toward a goal of $400,000.
The fundraising efforts have included a black-tie dinner at the Ocean House hotel in Watch Hill that made $100,000 and sales of ‘bring back the beach’ T-shirts,” which pulled in $40,000.
Early this month, Konicki distributed $126,000 in grants to Westerly businesses that are still trying to repair themselves in time for the summer.
“The money that has come in has been unbelievable,” Konicki said. “It’s a mammoth undertaking to deal with a crisis of this size. For some of these businesses that were devastated, it is the only way they are going to recover.”
As the cleanup moves into the Winnapaug Pond phase, organizers will carefully choose how they match volunteers with assignments.
The pond first has to be surveyed to see exactly what the cleanup will entail.
“There are propane tanks, debris, chunks of buildings and pieces of vehicles that were carried by the surge across the road and into the pond,” Konicki said.
For Ziegler and the Collette Vacations team, their trip to Misquamicut was right after Christmas, and their assignment was to help with the cleanup of Andrea Hotel, which is right on the beach and was severely damaged by the storm.
The hotel had no power, was dark and cold as the group carried mattresses, linens and other items from rooms to other areas of the building so the hotel workers could rebuild.
“It is something that was a great experience for the team,” said Ziegler, who is now signed up with Serve Rhode Island and plans to volunteer again. “It is not just for when the next hurricane hits, but helping out in snowstorms and whatever is needed. I would definitely do it again.” •

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