Help with hurricane relief!
Drop off donations at The Other Side in Utica (2011 Genesee Street, across from the Uptown Theater)

Drop off time Saturday and Sunday is from 12:00 noon – 6:00pm. Every day from Monday through Friday will be from 4:00pm – 6:00pm. We need volunteers so feel free to show up to sort out items.

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Occupy Utica is teaming up with The Other Side to create a drop-off center to help victims of Hurricane Sandy. We are currently in regular contact with Occupy Sandy Relief in New York City which was set up to give assistance to the most neglected communities hit the hardest by the hurricane. Sandy Relief was set up by Occupy Wall Street, the climate justice group 350.org and recovers.org. Thus far, mutual aid relief centers have been established in New Jersey, the Lower East Side, Far Rockaway, Astoria, Chinatown, Staten Island and many other neighborhoods.

The death count from the hurricane is 140 and rising. The MTA has limited service, no service in southern Manhattan and no Brooklyn-Manhattan service. Amtrak and Metro North are shut down, millions are still without power, FEMA and the Red Cross have made little to no appearance in Far Rockaway, schools are shut down, and another storm is expected to hit the city. Residents have made comparisons in some neighborhoods to the damage created by Katrina in New Orleans. This is not just a freak storm – this is a storm made worse by climate change and New Jersey, New York and other Northeastern states are experiencing just a little of what will most likely become a regular occurrence in the not to distant future.

There is, however, hope. People are making the connections between climate change, corporate welfare, government inefficiency and Hurricane Sandy. Up and down the coast, people are acting on the principles of mutual aid – the idea that we can create a better world by working in solidarity with each other and building grassroots democratic community power instead of relying on corporations and the State. Occupy Sandy Relief is acting in this tradition of mutual aid and is rebuilding from the bottom-up. This model was created by Common Ground in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and was the first organization in the Lower Ninth Ward. This model is, in many ways being replicated by Occupy Sandy Relief and Occupy Utica is lucky to have a former organizer with Common Ground in our group.

We need your help. Volunteers are needed in New York City and New Jersey. We need people to volunteer to be at The Other Side to pick up donations and we will be working on a schedule for this. As of now, some of us may be heading down to New York City next weekend, but until then we need to find a way to get supplies down there. We may be able to get supplies to Albany or somewhere downstate at similar drop off sites but we need a way to get it there.

Here is a list of what we need:

Gas cans with gas (please do not bring this to TOS but email or call us if you can bring this), blankets, winter coats, tampons, pads, etc, diapers, fresh socks, fresh undergarments, thermal underwear, towels, soap, baby food, batteries, shoes, non-perishable food, toiletries, water (bottles and jugs), traps, tents… and many other items.

For a complete list of needs, please visit: http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/

For financial donations visit: https://www.wepay.com/donations/occupy-sandy-cleanup-volunteers

For website, facebook, email, twitter updates, visit: http://www.facebook.com/OccupySandyReliefNyc?ref=ts&fref=ts

Also visit http://www.democracynow.org and http://www.350.org for updates and analysis.

Finally, please come to our meeting Friday at 6:30pm at The Other Side to talk about how you can help.

You can contact us by emailing occupyutica@gmail.com or calling 315 732-2382

Solidarity not charity! For economic, social and climate justice!

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