By Laurel Parker West | National Program Director
Two years ago, on October 29th, Superstorm Sandy swooped in and turned the lives of New Yorkers upside down. While most were able to settle back into their normal lives rather quickly, many of Baby Buggy's families--who were already living in the upside-down world of poverty--were not able to hit reset on their lives quite so quickly. Baby Buggy has worked closely with partner sites in the Rockaways, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Jersey, and Long Island for the past two years to help vulnerable families rebuild their lives.
With your generous support, we have provided new tables, chairs, art supplies, and desks for Head Start centers. We have provided air purifiers and air mattresses to families whose apartments were flooded and then covered in mold in the span of a few weeks. We have provided diapers and wipes to newborn babies whose low-income first-time moms lost everything in the storm. We have helped an incredible family center re-open in the Rockaways to serve even more families now than they could before the storm. We have provided backpacks, school supplies, and school clothing for children in Early Head Start programs who were finally able to return to sparkling new classrooms after years of rebuilding. We have provided gift cards for groceries and household supplies for families who didn't have enough food to eat as they waited to move into new housing. We have given fathers strollers and car seats for their children so they can spend time with their children while keeping them safe. We provided Metrocards to families who were displaced and living in shelters so they could continue to commute back to the early education centers and schools their children had been attending before Sandy hit.
And, perhaps most importantly, Baby Buggy let the thousands of vulnerable moms, dads, and children who were affected by this storm know that they would not be forgotten even as it took years for them to rebuild their lives. The drawing from a student at the Early Head Start in the Rockaways above is a vivid reminder that while there will always be rain and storms, now, "it's a sunny day." Thank you for bringing the sunshine back to the lives of so many Baby Buggy families who felt flooded by Superstorm Sandy for so long.
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