Rockland to the Rescue: County Launches Effort to Help Puerto Rico

Rockland County Executive Ed Day along with members of the Rockland Legislature and community leaders announced a plan this week to deliver help to Puerto Rico.

“The relationship between Rockland County and Puerto goes back generations,” Day said. “The ties run deep. And so does the pain and disruption to so many lives in the aftermath of this natural disaster.”

He was joined at the Rockland County Fire Training Center by Rockland Legislators Aney Paul and Toney Earl, Suffern Mayor Ed Markunas, Haverstraw Village Mayor Michael Kohut, representatives of the Haverstraw Lion’s Club, the Rockland County Police Hispanic Society, the Rockland United Way and others.

Day has asked Deputy Rockland County Executive Guillermo Rosa to coordinate Rockland County’s response to the hurricane.

Rosa, a retired Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army, has been in contact with both government leaders and the Emergency Response Command Center in Puerto Rico.

He came up with an immediate plan that is being implementing today, as well as a longer term plan.

Rockland County is working in partnership with the state and federal governments as well as the non-for-profit organizations like United Way.

Here’s what we are going to do:

Thursday through Sunday 12-8 p.m., at the Rockland Fire Training Center, the county will be collecting a very specific list of items that have been requested by officials in Puerto Rico.

These items include:
• Baby Formula (in cases, no individual cans)
• Diapers (children and adult)
• Wipes
• Cases of water
• Flashlights
• Camping Lanterns (battery operated)
• Batteries (no lithium batteries)
• Tarps
• Blankets
• AM/FM portable radios (battery operated)
• Personal First Aid Kits (new, still in wrappers)
• Feminine Hygiene products (tampons, sanitary napkins)

No other items will be accepted.

Volunteers from the Rockland Civilian Emergency Response Team and members of our Rockland Conservation and Service Corp will be at the Fire Training Center, 35 Firemen’s Memorial Drive to accept the donation from 12-8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

The donated good will then be delivered in an 18-wheeler generously donated by UPS to the Army National Guard Armory in Yonkers.

The Armory has been designated by the state as a donation site for hurricane relief.

Once the items are brought to Yonkers, the National Guard will pack them onto military cargo plans and deliver them to the Caribbean, to the people who need help.

Over the next several months, the County’s Executive Office and our Fire and Emergency Service will develop a multi-pronged relief effort that will continuously assess the requests for support coming from the island.

County staff members working on the relief project also include Nicholas Longo, Pablo Ramos, Gordon Wren from the Rockland County Office of Fire and Emergency Services; Michael Hoblin from the Rockland County Department of Health and Kathy Galione from the Rockland County Youth Bureau and others.

The county is already surveying volunteers to see if they would be willing to go to Puerto Rico if needed.

Rockland officials will coordinate with the state, FEMA and the Office of Emergency Management in Puerto Rico.

“We will do whatever we can to assist the people of Puerto Rico as they recover from this disaster,” Day said. “We are in it for the long haul.”

Independent efforts continue across the county to help the island recover.

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