Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Winter 2013 Issue | Page 10

Responding to Sandy
Emily Cherry
Following Hurricane Sandy’s devastating effects across
the New England area, Episcopalians jumped into response
mode. Episcopal Relief & Development supported temporary
housing sites. Individual congregations became shelters
where people could seek warmth, water and electricity.

Here in Virginia, congregations sought ways to respond,
too. The diocesan Disaster Preparedness & Response
Ministry Team distributed guidelines and advice to help
churches prepare for the hurricane, and has since served as
a clearinghouse of information. Congregations across the
Diocese have raised funds, collected donations and offered
up prayers for the victims of the storm.

Members of Cunningham Chapel Parish, Millwood
mobilized quickly following the storm. Parishioner Wendy
Clatterbuck, head of the church food pantry, identified
a church in New York which was receiving donations.
Parishioners Pug and Susie Hart spearheaded the donation
collection effort. The bulk of the storm’s damage was felt on
a Monday. A call went out on Tuesday, and by Wednesday the
parish office was overflowing with donations. A local moving
company donated boxes. And soon enough Cunningham
Chapel Parish had shipped over 500 pounds of coats, baby
supplies and cleaning supplies to Holy Trinity Episcopal
Church in Valley Stream, N.Y. – guaranteed for Friday
delivery. “We are small but mighty when we come together
for common cause!” wrote parish administrator Shirley Ann
Mollohan in an e-mail to the congregation.

St. Stephen’s, Richmond also moved quickly: “While
large organizations and agencies struggled to respond to
the devastation,” wrote Sarah Bartenstein, St. Stephen’s
communications director, in an article, “a small group of
adults – perhaps more nimble and ‘lower to the ground’
than larger bureaucracies – sprang into action to mobilize
volunteers and supplies.” The entire congregation pitched in
to make the idea of a young adult-led relief trip a reality.
The team – which included Abigail Whorley, Michael
Sweeney, Briget Ganske, Anna Humphries, Colin Billings and
Evan Williams – rented SUVs, packed them full of donated
supplies and headed north.

Here, youth ministry leader Michael Sweeney describes
the experience.
‘What We Are Called To Do’
Michael Sweeney
We spent our two days of Hurricane Sandy relief work in
Brooklyn. Both days were so different from each other.
The work of gutting a flood-destroyed basement – pulling
up carpet, tearing down drywall, shoveling mud – was so
immediately satisfying. It was hard work physically, but the
task was obvious. Step 1: put hammer in hand. Step 2: put
hammer through wall. Step 3: repeat step 2.
8

Virginia Episcopalian / Winter 2013

At the end of the day, the results were strikingly visible.
What remained of the basement were a bare concrete floor
and a skeleton of studs. Outside, a bank of black trash bags
lined the curb and spilled onto the sidewalk. The family
could finally hire an electrician, a plumber and an HVAC
specialist, and begin the rebuilding. We’d done good work.
It was, in Abigail Whorley’s words, “what we are called to do
as neighbors.”

Photo: Briget Ganske

The team of young adults from St. Stephen’s, Richmond joins
members of the Women’s Press Collective, organizers of a
distribution center on Coney Island, to help with Sandy relief.

The second day was spent doing “what we are called
to do as Christians” (again, Abigail’s words). There were no
hammers. We came face-to-face and hands-to-hands with
people. It wasn’t easy, wanting to help, not quite knowing
what to do. Here we are. Now what?

In Coney Island, one block from the water, we brought
warm food to a building of subsidized apartments for
seniors. Most were first generation immigrants from Russia;
a few had come from Latin America. We pushed our food
cart down dark hallways. The doors were closed with more
locks than I’d seen outside of a locksmith. In the cart, a white
Styrofoam box kept the packages of lasagna warm.

On the 14th floor, we stood for a long while outside the
first door, just looking at it, wondering who’d be on the other
side, almost afraid to knock. In retrospect, it was the closest
I’ve ever come to understanding the mission of the disciples
as Jesus gave it to them: “Take nothing for your journey,
no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money – not even an extra
tunic.” (Luke 9:3)

Abigail knocked. And though we had many things with
us, including extra layers, I felt naked, as if I had absolutely
nothing but the eyes on my face. I could almost feel them
Sandy continued on page 9