Volunteer Groups Coordinated by LSM/NJ Disaster Response Operation Have Been Busy With Sandy Recover

 

Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey’s (LSM/NJ) disaster response operation has been busy coordinating various volunteer groups who work tirelessly to help New Jersey recover from Super Storm Sandy.

Summer is a particularly busy time as June and July are the most popular months for volunteer teams. From March 1st to June 30th, LSM/NJ facilitated the housing and work for a total of 630 volunteers representing 22 volunteer groups from places as far away as Minnesota and as close as Hillsborough, NJ. Of these volunteers who gave their time and effort to aid New Jersey residents about half were under 18 years old. The time they gave was substantial, totaling over 5,000 work hours. Besides the practical assistance provided, these volunteer hours are also given a monetary value of more than $20.00 per hour by FEMA, and that money is credited to the town the volunteers worked in. Thus, as a result of our hard-working Lutheran volunteers more than $100,000 has been credited to some of the towns hardest hit by Sandy. This is a number that will rise further as the summer goes on and ten additional volunteer groups continue this important work in late July.