Occupy Sandy Offers Alternative Hurricane Recovery Effort

It is no coincidence that the meeting held in the basement of the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is reminiscent of the general assemblies held during Occupy Wall Street’s heyday. The church is one of the two main distribution centers for Occupy Sandy — a relief effort established by OWS members that helps coordinate the distribution of donations and volunteers to areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Since October 3, Occupy Sandy has established numerous donation drop-off locations and recovery sites throughout affected areas, in addition to the two training and distribution centers in Brooklyn.

“It was like that whole first year of Occupy was training for us,” said St. Luke and St. Matthew site coordinator Easton Smith. “It was us getting our networks together, it was us figuring out how to work with each other in anti-oppressive ways. Then, as soon as this disaster hit, we mobilized that.”

“I think that a lot of people have a misconception of what we’re doing here,” Smith added. “This is not Occupy Wall Street in its Zuccotti Park incarnation; this is not [about] politics. This is about disaster relief.”

Occupy Sandy naturally does not have the same resources as major relief organizations like FEMA and the American Red Cross. Volunteers said they do not consider the group a charity organization, and are not interested in just giving out survival items. Rather, they strive to empower people and build lasting networks to mitigate the problems of poverty in the long term.

“It’s powerful to see the organizational level here,” said volunteer Christian Hansen. “And also to see people saying ‘This is real work, this is hard work, this is going to challenge you, and we are going to be doing this in a way that respects our principles of empowerment, of respect, of mutual aid and cooperation.’ People can step up to the moment and be in charge in an egalitarian way.”

Smith estimated that more than half of Occupy Sandy volunteers had no previous affiliation with the Occupy movement, but found that the organization was the most efficient way to participate in the disaster relief effort. One such volunteer is Katherine Dolan who — along with her friends Alex Nordenson and John Heggestuen — visited a different organization’s volunteer site, found that there was little for them to do there, and decided to pay the church a visit instead. They found a few tables of donations and hot meals that were prepared for distribution.

“We realized basically as soon as we came here that Occupy Sandy knows exactly what’s needed in all of the communities, but they’re just not getting things quickly enough,” Dolan said.

The three Brooklyn residents began working to set up a list of items in demand, which individuals could donate to the church. Having run out of room in the basement of St. Luke and St. Matthew, the contents of daily delivery trucks from donors are stacked along the pews of the church, overflowing onto the floor and filling the sanctuary of the church.

The church’s basement is now completely dedicated to food-preparation according to Sierra Springarn, a caterer by profession and an organizer of the food donation efforts. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, six to eight volunteers work in the kitchen, preparing hot meals that are sent out to various recovery sites.

According to volunteer Justin Stone-Diaz, who has been with the Occupy movement since its Zuccotti Park days, the Occupy Sandy effort is suggesting a neighborhood-level of government by the people and for the people.

“If people of the neighborhoods were able to express their needs in an easy way, they would have been able to do this themselves,” Stone-Diaz said. “The thing is, we didn’t have any money. We just put things online and said ‘Hey, there’s people out here who need help.’”