So yesterday was the big day ! Dog food truck showed up at 10 am and we loaded and got under way at about 11:30 . Just about 3 miles into it on our country roads I figured out the the trailer was out of balance and could not go over 45-50 MPH. ( I was not in charge of loading...
) Now a prudent person might have turned around and reorganized the trailer but we soldiered on, it took about 45 minutes to load and I did not want to waste any more time. The original plan had us going to Toms River first , which is about 4 hrs away, so on to plan "B" I called St Hubert's in North Jersey and arranged to drop there to lighten the butt end of the trailer .Took us two hours to get there , boy is it HARD to go 45 MPH on a hwy when you grew up in a race car family!!
Anyway met with Nora at
http://www.sthuberts.org/ and discussed the distribution and the need and was very satisfied that the food would be going to the most need. They are distributing to private families and to shelters taking in the dogs. St Huberts got about 1360 # dog food and about 100 of cat food.
Onward and outward , thankfully the trailer now towed just great and we made great time to Pt Pleasant Bch, NJ. where we took a ride through my stomping grounds of where I grew up and of when I was a commercial fisher woman. Boy that was a shock.
On approach to the beach where rt 35 and 34 come together there was LITERALLY a mountain of debris. Lumber, shingles,and just all kinds of stuff. I said to, Lucas, 6, the young man that came with me and his mother, " that is what is left of peoples homes from the beach" The mountain was probably 200yds long and 50 ft high. So on we go and we cross of the Brielle bridge. There where boats scattered about , some tied to the dock with the bow pointing straight up , just being able to see the graceful curve of the bow and the rest submerged. ALL of the buildings had ALL of the first floor belongings at the curbside for junk pick up. We tried to get to the inlet and go around th Coast Guard Station but that area was pretty heavily guarded and inaccessible. We were able to drive down Ocean Ave and saw again entire homes belongings out on the street. There was also 20 ft piles of sand that belonged hundreds of yards to the east that we had to circumnavigate . We had to keep it short but made our way to Arnold Ave where Jenkinson's is and the was a blizzard of activity , cleaning , moving , back hoeing , filtering piles of sand , before returning it to the beach. There were huge piles of appliances! Amazing the distance the ocean came in. It made it , mmmnn maybe 1/2 of a mile down Arnold Ave. A friend of mine said it crossed the railroad tracks! HOLY CRAP! So that was the short tour , we had a mission to complete!!
Met up with Bernadette Epple-Cusick and dropped off a couple of hundred pounds of dog food for Giant breed rescue and a 2 or 3 cases of cat food for the cat rescue she works with in PPBCH.
Off we go driving to Toms River . I have not lived in this area for more than 25 years and as I drive reminiscing about all the fun times ! Then I realize that my last stop was probably right near where I was , in Brick Town. So I call Ron Levendusky (Ron has show English Setters) and tell him where I am and he says "oh wow, I am like 2 minutes from you!" He was literally in his car about one mile up the road and fixing to pull out ahead of me . So he waits about 30 seconds! and pulls out and leads me to the Bricktown drop off point of DVM Dr Richardson where they will be distributing to clients in need. Dr Richardson's office yard , I don't think had a tree left standing . Tell me that the is not a Devine plan!!! How could that timing have gotten any better? I left 520 # dog food and about 75 Lbs of cat food there.
Next stop was Toms River East Little league and Lisa Vergona-Fobian . Lisa and her group are a central distributing area for Toms River , Seaside. What a job they and their kids and community are doing there!! I am in awe at the sense of community! We left approximately 1440 # of dog food and 375 # of cat food . AS well as about 27 cases of canned cat food and 10 cases of canned dog food. The emergency HSUS shelter in Barnegat will be picking up the canned foods and Lisa and her crew delivered and distributed 1450 lbs of dog food and 45 cases of cat food to the Toms River Animal Shelter and Jersey Shore Animal Center.
I know how many of us feel about HSUS , and believe me, I did some soul searching before committing the food to them but by giving them the food, itself, I know that it will go to the animals. It is about the animals and not my feelings about an organization. Please PM me any comments .
So last but certainly not least we drive about 35 minutes north and have a quick visit with my brother in Belmar , NJ who had 2 feet of ocean surrounding his house at high tide.Took a couple of zigs and zags to get there and he got his power on for the first time yesterday at about 4pm. My niece, Ciara Bodine , will be distributing about 150 pounds to the Monmouth food bank.
We leave his house at 9 pm and arrive back at my driveway at 11:45 PM JUST as the wind starts whipping and the heavens lets loose and it deluges, as Stacy Rideout is getting her son and her stuff into her car. THANK you for being a co pilot Stace, you and Lucas were a HUGE help!!
I want to thank ALL of you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity. I had such a wonderful feeling yesterday being able to help all of those animals and people who may need help feeding their animals, it is indescribable .
Thank you also Alex Harris , Zieglers Distributing , and Nutrisource Dog foods for your generous donations!!!!
So there you have it.....
<3
3600 pounds of Nutrisource Grain free dry dog food , mixed flavors
1390 pounds of Royal Canin dry cat food mixed flavors
15 cases of Hound&Gato hound canned dog food
30 cases of H&G Gato canned cat food