Gabby DeMarchi
News Editor
While Springfield College made many students, faculty members and staff feel like giddy school children when they canceled classes on Oct. 29 due to Hurricane Sandy, others along the East Coast weren’t smiling about anything.
According to CNN.com, 24 states were affected by Hurricane Sandy, but the states that suffered the most damage were New York and New Jersey.
Streets, subway lines and tunnels in New York City were flooded, while the Jersey Shore was ruined.
When SC senior and New Jersey native, Amanda Pelkey heard of the great travesty her home state suffered, she knew something had to be done.
“I’m from Jersey, but I’m not from the Shore. I’m right across from Philly, which is on the opposite side, but I’ve worked as a live-in nanny for the past three years down in Ocean City, and I went down there on vacations growing up,” Pelkey explained.
It was pure instinct for Pelkey to do something.
Immediately, Pelkey started brainstorming of ways to help. Her first thought was to bring a group of friends down to Ocean City to help clean up the area, but she didn’t know how to organize such an event. Luckily for her, fate worked its magic.
“My old pastor saw my status on Facebook that said I was looking for a clean-up site,” Pelkey said. “She gave us a few places to check out, and I signed up for one in Ocean City obviously. [The clean-up site is] about 10 blocks from where I nannied.”
While Pelkey and her friends plan on helping out at the clean-up site this Saturday, she has also been, and will continue to collect donations of any types.
“[The donations] were slow last week just because people needed a chance to go home and get stuff over the weekend, but they have been building up pretty fast,” Pelkey said with a smile. “[We’re taking] non-perishable food, water, warm clothes, cleaning supplies, hospital mats, toiletries, anything.”
Even though Pelkey and her friends are going to the clean-up site this weekend, personally Pelkey will continue to take donations up until Thanksgiving break.
“We’re leaving on Friday, but I am going back to the clean-up site over Thanksgiving break, so I will be taking more donations,” explained Pelkey.
All donations can be brought to Townhouse Seven, where Pelkey lives, or if you e-mail her (apelkey@springfieldcollege.edu) she will come retrieve the donations from you.
“I know [it’s a hassle] to walk from Inty to the Townhouses,” Pelkey said with a chuckle.
If you wish to make a donation for Pelkey’s Ocean City clean-up this weekend, she requires all donations be in by Friday at 5 p.m.
“Everything is just ruined,” Pelkey said in disbelief. “We’re taking as many donations as we can that will fit in the cars.”