By JOSEPH KELLARD
Over the past two Saturdays, first at Great Lincoln Shopping Center and later at South Nassau Communities Hospital, residents from Oceanside and neighboring towns donated enough material goods for the hurricane victims to jam-pack two tractor trailers.
The idea occurred to Cacossa as she watched news coverage of Katrina devastating the Gulf Coast states. With the fourth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, she couldn¹t help but be reminded of how Americans from across the nation materially and spiritually assisted her friends left alone with young children after their spouses were killed in the twin towers.
³Friends of mine lost loved ones on 9/11, families that were just left with the mother and small children here in Oceanside,² Cacossa said. ³People came from all over the country to help us. So how can I not do this? It¹s my way of saying we¹re part of this country, too, and thank you.²
Initially, the thought of children left homeless by the natural disaster spurred Cacossa to organize a relief effort for them on Sept. 6. Four days later, she was able to get a 53-foot tractor trailer, the largest truck of its kind on the highways, to the Great Lincoln Shopping Center on Atlantic Avenue and packed it to the hilt. After getting word out about her relief drive via mass e-mails and through her friend, Jacki Feldbaum, who posted fliers around town, charitable people started to arrive that Saturday, a half-hour before the 9 a.m. starting time.
Cacossa and her family and friends began packing the truck with donations that included everything from food to new and second-hand kids¹ clothes, strollers, bicycles, toys and a microwave still in its box.
³Because we were in the CVS shopping center that day,² Cacossa said, ³some people went there and filled up wagons with diapers, formulas, shampoos and toiletries and canned and boxed food, granola bars, cereals ‹ just everything you can think of.²
Some people made multiple trips to the shopping center with other items to donate. At 3 p.m. they continued to arrive with more goods in hand, but were turned away because the trailer was full. A driver began the trip to a hub in Beaumont, Texas, where the donations were to be stored before being distributed to Katrina¹s survivors in Louisiana and Mississippi.
³Albert Thigpin, one of the hurricane relief¹s distributing coordinators, said he was totally overwhelmed that the trailer was filled to the rim,² Cacossa said. ³And it was so well received. I got goose bumps and cried.²
Cacossa is a vice president of a plastics company that uses tractor trailers to ship its products, and her employer and other affiliated companies donated money to cover the cost of the freight. Businesses and organizations including Vision Decision, Quiznos of Oceanside, Lias Cucina, CVS on Atlantic Avenue, Maggie Moos, Rave Girl and the Knights of Columbus were among the most charitable, Cacossa said.
Two days before the first drive, she approached Principal Jeff Schlissel at School 3 ‹ where her son, Dennis Pivnick, is a sixth-grader ‹ and e-mailed Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown for advice on how to promote the effort. That night at School 6, Brown mentioned Cacossa¹s drive at a public meeting in which the school district announced its plan to be the community¹s primary coordinator of relief efforts. Additionally, Cacossa announced her drive at a School 3 PTA meeting.
As she prepared her second drive, on Sept. 17 in an SNCH parking lot, Thigpin told her to focus the donations on pots, pans, linens, towels and blankets. Again, Brown assisted Cacossa in promoting the drive, allowing fliers to be posted in each Oceanside school.
Once more, people arrived in droves with their donations, and the truck was filled by 2 p.m. ³The first Saturday was definitely a lot more emotional, because it was still kind of new,² Cacossa explained. ³And the second time, even though it was kind of old hat, there still were a lot of tears and goose bumps and a lot of hugs.²
Maria Cass-Hanlon, a Brower Avenue resident, learned about Cacossa¹s first drive from a report on News 12. Calling Katrina¹s devastation ³absolutely heartbreaking,² Cass-Hanlon eagerly took advantage of a half-price sale on baby clothes at JC Penny and donated them at the second drive. ³I bought numerous outfits and safety-pinned three pairs of socks to each outfit,² she explained, ³and then I also packed some of my and my husband¹s old clothes and some comforters.²
Along with her husband, Red, and son, Peter, Susan Abrams of Baldwin helped load the trailers on both Saturdays. ³Nanci has a very big heart,² she said about Cacossa, her friend, ³and when she sees someone in need, she goes into helping them full-fledged.²
Abrams noted that it is characteristic of Cacossa to get others involved in her causes. ³When she told me she was doing this,² she explained, ³I told her she just answered my prayers. ... Nanci is the type of person who thinks of things and gets the ball into action.²
Feldbaum, too, immediately signed on to Cacossa¹s drive after reading her original mass e-mail, which she described as both heartfelt and beautifully written. ³Did Nanci single-handedly put this together?² Feldbaum said when discussing the teamwork needed to make the drives a success. ³Well, Nanci definitely made it possible for everyone. She would not sit. Did she plan it to get this big? No one expected it to get this big. We looked at the first truck last Saturday and thought, oh my god, how are we going to fill it? And you know what? We did it ‹ and we had to turn people away.²
Reflecting on her efforts over the past two weeks, Cacossa concluded, "Oceanside has restored my faith in America. It's touched my heart how people just opened themselves up to help. It's just been unbelievable."
Comments on this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
