Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: Baltimore Responded with Frank Storch


In a recent edition of the on-line edition of Jewish Action Frank Storch told the story of how he and several other volunteers from Baltimore brought truckloads of emergency equipment to the victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York City.

“I was in Israel when I heard about the hurricane. I changed my ticket so I could return earlier and help out.
A member of Hatzalah called, saying he was interested in taking some generators from Baltimore to New York. Instead of bringing just a few generators, I thought, Let’s make a large purchase of generators, gas cans, flashlights, batteries, lanterns—everything the communities would need. 
Home Depot in Baltimore was suspicious of the fact that we wanted to purchase hundreds of generators; they assumed we would be bringing them to New York to resell. I told them to speak with the attorney general of Maryland who knows me personally and could vouch for me. They contacted the attorney general and realized we had truly come to do a good deed. We ended up bringing 120 generators, 250 gas cans and thousands of batteries, flashlights, sump pumps, trash bags and more. With a caravan of four large rented trucks, one mini truck and my four-wheel drive, we left for New York with more than $150,000 worth of emergency equipment.”
Frank Storch in Yellow Jacket with Volunteers Helping Out During Hurricane Sandy