As the Eastern Seaboard continues to recover from the unprecedented damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, the Jewish community is beginning to assess the devastation both to our community as well as the general population. We continue to be amazed by the resiliency, generosity, and flexibility of the American people generally, and of the Jewish community specifically.
 
The Jewish Federations of North America established the JFNA Hurricane Relief Fund to serve as a national focal point to collect contributions to aid in the recovery and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
 
Donors may contribute to their local Federation’s Hurricane Relief Fund or directly to the JFNA Hurricane Relief Fund at http://jfeds.org/SandyRelief.   In addition, donors may text RELIEF to 51818 on a mobile device to pledge a donation or send checks to our national mailbox at The Jewish Federations of North America, Wall Street Station, PO Box 148, New York, NY 10268. Please indicate "JFNA Hurricane Relief Fund" on all checks or in the designation box online.
 
Yesterday, JFNA also began the process of reaching out to impacted Federations to conduct an initial damage and recovery survey.  Phone calls were placed and emails were sent to virtually every Federation in a large geographic area along the East Coast stretching from Virginia to New England. Damage assessment continues today at the local level through contacts with Federations, agencies, and our Jewish communal partners through the Jewish Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (JVOAD) partnership that JFNA convenes.  We are also actively participating in the National VOAD partnership, which convenes national and local disaster relief agencies with FEMA and state emergency management agencies.
 
As the scope of Sandy’s impact becomes clearer, the JFNA Emergency Committee, in consultation with Federation and JFNA leadership will make determinations about allocations to meet the immediate, medium, and long-term needs of storm victims, communal agencies, and others. 
 
We will continue to provide system-wide information regarding the impact of Hurricane Sandy and the recovery process.
 
Please note that due to power outages in New York City, the JFNA email system is still not operational.  Therefore, for specific Emergency Committee assistance, please contact Steven Woolf at Steven.Woolf@verizon.net or 347-820-4283 or Karen Edell Yoskowitz at KEdellowitz@gmail.com or 301-775-4287 or William Daroff at William@Daroff.com or 202-730-5054.