The group has served Thanksgiving dinner, collected Christmas toys and donated school books to Sandy victims, among other efforts.
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Lehigh Valley-based Hands Helping Humanity recently donated hundreds of books to a school in Union Beach, N.J., that was damaged in Superstorm Sandy.
When Stephanie Snyder’s electricity was restored after Superstorm Sandy, she became fixated by the devastating images of the storm’s destruction flooding the news.
It was all too similar for Snyder to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, and the Lehigh Valley resident didn’t want any lives to be lost again because hurricane victims didn’t have food or water.
She loaded up her SUV with supplies and drove to Sayreville, N.J., where her neighbor’s grandparents’ home had been destroyed. She distributed her food and water to whoever asked and was incredibly taken aback by the need she found.
“This one woman, I’ll never forget, said, ‘I would never take your food but I haven’t found food in two-and-a-half days,’” Snyder said.
She then came upon a man who couldn’t find any formula for his baby. Snyder drove back to the Lehigh Valley, went shopping for baby supplies, and returned to Sayreville to help again.
It’s a drive she’s made more than 100 times since the October storm and she’s gotten many others to join her through a group she started to help Sandy victims. Called Hands Helping Humanity, the group has served Thanksgiving dinner, collected Christmas toys and donated school books to Sandy victims, among other efforts.
“Once you see it, you can’t turn your back,” Snyder said.
Dwight and Kate Schaffner are among Snyder’s many friends who have helped in the effort. The two helped serve Thanksgiving dinner to 1,000 people in the Toms River, N.J., area whose homes were destroyed by the storm. Dwight Schaffner also drove a truck full of supplies to that area a week after the storm.
Schaffner, a Bethlehem police officer, said the residents and especially the local police were very grateful.
“Just the thanks that we got from the people that were going through worse than we were — the feeling that I got is indescribable,” Schaffner said. “It was just a little something I could do to make someone’s life better.”
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Superstorm Sandy damage Stephanie Snyder witnessed in Sayreville, N.J.
The Rev. Victoria Landaverde, pastor of Middletown Assembly of God in New Jersey, was driving around the Jersey Shore seeking to help people in need following Sandy when she ran into Snyder at a local Home Depot. The two started a partnership and Snyder’s group has helped Landaverde’s congregation and storm victims from nearby Keansburg, N.J., tremendously, Landaverde said.
Keansburg is a bay-front borough consisting mainly of single-story bungalows, Landaverde said. Storm surges nearly filled the 10-foot tall homes and the borough has needed a lot of assistance, she said.
“It’s amazing to see how much support the town of Keansburg has gotten from" the Lehigh Valley, Landaverde said. “It’s amazing because (the Lehigh Valley) was only one degree removed from being on the ground.”
The Keansburg area’s needs are continuing as residents start the process of repairing their homes, Landaverde said. Residents are getting financial assistance from the federal government and their insurance companies, but it hasn’t been enough, she said.
So, Hands Helping Humanity’s current push is to raise money for home repair supplies and contributions of household goods, Snyder said. The group would prefer donations of new items such as sheets, towels and toaster ovens because the storm victims deserve quality items in their homes, Snyder said.
“The focus is to get people back in their homes,” she said.
“People don’t realize how many people are living in their homes without heat,” she continued. “Now that it’s not in the media as much … people are being forgotten.”
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DONATIONS SOUGHT
Hands Helping Humanity accepts donations 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem (enter through the upper parking lot on Wyandotte) and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at Park Place, Suite 101, 3400 Bath Pike in Hanover Township, Northampton County. Donations also can be made by appointment by calling Stephanie Snyder at 484-896-8424.