By Nick Buglione
The East Meadow Fire Department, in coordination with Rescue Co. 5, the chief¹s office and the board of fire commissioners, announced that it¹s now accepting donations of money, food and water from the community.
³We can¹t just sit here and watch this go on,² said John O¹Brien, second assistant chief of the department. ³This is when people have to step up to the plate.²
The department is asking that people send checks or money orders made out to the East Meadow Fire Department Disaster Relief Fund. The money will be donated to the Salvation Army.
Canned, boxed and non-perishable food items may also be donated, including bottled water, O¹Brien said. Donations will be accepted at the East Meadow Fire Department Headquarters on East Meadow Avenue, just south of Front Street, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
Meanwhile, the fire department has also agreed to allow the East Meadow Kiwanis and Wantagh Kiwanis use its headquarters for a night at the races fund-raiser the organizations are holding on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.
James Skinner, an East Meadow Kiwanis member who¹s helping organize the event, said the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce is also getting involved. At last Wednesday¹s chamber meeting, Skinner was handing out beads to the members, ³reminding them of New Orleans and getting them to come down,² he said. ³We have to do something. It¹s a civic-minded thing.²
Tickets are $25 each. For more information, call Skinner at (516) 683-8376.
Skinner added that his son Colin, a fifth-grader in McVey Elementary School and member of Boy Scout Troop 352, is organizing a clothing drive. ³Every little bit¹s going to help,² Skinner said.
East Meadow residents and business owners have also taken matters into their own hands. Jim McGowan, born and raised in Salisbury, and his 9-year-old son Kevin decided to go door-to-door looking for donations after realizing the destruction Hurricane Katrina wrought. ³We collected about $50,² McGowan said. ³My son said, ŒWe could do better than this.¹²
So he set up a lemonade stand, giving drinks away for free while encouraging passersby to donate to hurricane relief. McGowan said other people in the neighborhood soon decided to join their fund-raising effort. ³One group went door-to-door looking for donations and another sold cookies and brownies,² McGowan said, noting that about 10 people in all took part in the fund-raiser.
The group collected $2,800, and McGowan recently sent a check for $2,500 to the American Red Cross. ³We¹re waiting for some more money to come in, and then we¹re going to write another check,² he said.
East Meadow State Farm insurance agent Sloan Clark and his staff spent their Labor Day outside their Hempstead Turnpike office waving signs and coaxing drivers to stop and buy lemonade. Clark matched every dollar raised, collecting some $250 for Hurricane Katrina victims.
³It really is our job to be like good neighbors in the community,² Clark said. ³And that means getting active when something needs to get done. We were having fun out there and I¹m really proud of my team.²
Staff member and wife Yanira Borges, said, ³It was so encouraging to see so many people pull over to give us whatever they had. I hope that everyone knows what wonderful neighbors we have.²
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
