Sandy

Another blog post by Mr. Deals…

Please note, this post is missing the usual Sunday humor I try to share. Have no fear, my in-laws just took off for an international trip, so I have some laughs to write about next week.

At this point, unless you’ve been living on a plane (which may be true for some of you), the news of Hurricane Sandy and the destruction it left in the Northeast of the US is probably old news by now. Luckily, Mrs. Deals and I were safe from the impact of the storm but as I’m sure you’ve all seen on the news, many people were not. One of our favorite places to go was actually hit very hard by the storm and will likely not be the same for a while if ever, Long Beach, NY.

Mrs. Deals and I spend a lot of our Summer weekends at the beach and when we are not on a plane going somewhere, the beach is where we want to be. As a surfer, I spend a ton of time in the water, and Mrs. Deals is a pro at setting up a lounge chair on the beach. As we were looking for ways to help, we wanted to focus our efforts on the beach communities that we love spending so much time at. While the gas shortage we are experiencing has not allowed us to travel far we were able to load up on necessary supplies at Costco and make a big drop to a donation center in the city. In a time of need it was amazing to see how many people were loading up their carts with blankets, cleaning supplies, warm clothes, etc.

This got me thinking, as frequent travelers, what are ways that we can help out in times of need. There’s a few simple things I can think of off the top of my head. First off, frequent flyer miles are something that all of us tend to accrue in mass quantities. There are plenty of organizations out there that will take miles as a donation, but miles are also great to donate to friends in need that need to get home to family or to aid others. Check out www.Race2Recover.com as they are a place where those who had rooms for the marathon can donate them to those in need. A great idea given the situation. Additionally, simple things like donating all the hotel soap you accrue while on the road can go a long way. As a kid, I always remember my dad saving everything while traveling and we have large amounts of soap and toiletries to donate at any given time.

There are many more ways to give so if you have any thoughts, please comment. If you do feel like getting involved, every little bit helps. A few organizations worth checking out right now (there are many more):

www.redcross.org

www.wavesforwater.org

www.foodbankmoc.org

www.salvationarmyusa.org

Remember, storms like this are not something to take for granted. Always prepare before them no matter how big or small you think they may be.