Helping Hands
SAXONBURG — Sixteen Butler County residents will travel Friday to Brigantine, N.J., to help with Superstorm Sandy disaster relief.
“There is always someone who needs some sort of a helping hand,” said Wendy Kovach.
This is the second trip of the East Coast/Sandy Team planned by Kovach of New Life Christian Ministries. During the first trip 16 total volunteers, seven of whom will be making the return trip Friday, traveled to New Jersey on March 1 to 3.
“Five different churches were represented by the team, and they were all different denominations,” Kovach said.
Kovach has helped on many disaster relief efforts, including Hurricane Katrina.
“We had three trips down to Hurricane Katrina, and I've done a lot of work in Mexico, so we've seen what hurricanes can do to different areas,” Kovach said.
Kovach organized the East Coast/Sandy Team to help with disaster relief and then contacted Bill Richardson, director of Cutting Edge Ministries.
“Cutting Edge ... does disaster relief and works on local construction projects here in the Pittsburgh area,” Richardson said.
Richardson had partnered with Brigantine Bible Church in Brigantine, N.J., before.
“The church we worked with before on other projects, but this time they got hit with the disaster, so we wanted to go there to help them,” Richardson said.
Superstorm Sandy hit the small congregation hard, and at least seven of its families are still unable to return to their homes.
Kovach said when the team first arrived in New Jersey, the volunteers were surprised at the lack of visible damage.
“We were like, 'Why are we even here?' … The outsides have been fixed and people are putting new windows in to get them winterized, but when you actually look in the houses there's nothing. A lot of the first floors are completely gutted,” Kovach said.
The church itself is also in need of repairs.
“At the church they were doing a little bit of everything,” Kovach said. “They had people working in the bathroom, working on the plumbing and drywalling. They also took out a whole section of windows and then had to replace the windows.”
Another team went to work on the house of a woman named Sandy.
Sandy has lived in her home for 36 years. Even though it's only about four blocks from a bay on one side and four blocks from the Atlantic Ocean on the other, she has never had water in it, until now.
“She thought she'd be back in (her home) by November and here it is March and they are not close to being in,” Kovach said.
The different teams Richardson is taking are working to help members of the Brigantine Bible Church, like Sandy, do repairs that are not fully covered by their insurance.
The East Coast/Sandy Team was able to raise money for supplies through fundraising at the different churches, Kovach's hair salon and through a partnership with Kohl's.Kohl's Associates in Action program encourages employees to volunteer in the community by giving monetary donations depending on the number of employees that volunteer their time.Kovach's sister, Pam Croskey, is the store manager for Kohl's store in Robinson Township and wanted to help.The team then planned a day to make blankets to hand out to Superstorm Sandy victims. They were able to purchase fleece fabric at a discounted rate from Jo-Ann's Fabric and the Pittsburgh Marriott Hotel in Cranberry Township donated the use of its banquet room.“For every five volunteers we got together for the Sandy victims, Kohl's donated $500,” Croskey said. “We had 53 volunteers and we gave the organization $5,000.”The money was used to purchase supplies, such as drywall, to use in the church and at Sandy's house.“It meant the world to me, because you never know what is going to happen to you, and even though we weren't affected by it, we were still able to help,” Croskey said.Brigantine Church, although still in need itself, continues to offer a food bank every Wednesday to those in the community. The 80 tie-fleece blankets were given out during the food bank on March 6. Kovach's team however wanted to personally give one blanket to Sandy before they left.Kovach said, “Sandy was so grateful for what little work we did get done on her house she said, 'Please come back to the beach anytime.” I said, 'Can I come back when it is warmer?”Just like most mission trips, those on the trip were thankful to be able to help people in need while creating new friendships with their team and those affected by the storm.“We've been blessed with so much and it's just a good feeling to be able to go and help somebody,” Kovach said. “Hopefully if we were in that kind of a situation somebody would help us.”
Those wanting to get involved with the New Life Christian Ministries' East Coast/Sandy Team can contact Wendy Kovach at 724-898-1062.Anyone wanting to form their own team to help with disaster relief can contact Bill Richardson at billedge@juno.com.“We still need volunteers now and through the spring and summer,” Richardson said.Richardson said he has other teams helping in the Superstorm Sandy area, as well as throughout Mississippi where areas were hit by tornadoes.“Wherever disaster happens, we try to get involved,” he said.
