Two ninjas take Staten island

My wonderful friend Michelle wanted to go to Staten Island on Monday to try and help a family. I agreed to go with her for a few hours and see what we could find to do. We took the subway down to the Staten Island Ferry, grabbed lunch, then got on.

After a 15 minute ride, we were there.

I tried to take a good pic of Manhattan from Staten Island, but the camera on my phone isn’t as good as my regular camera. You can still see it in the background. The new Freedom Tower is prominent in the skyline, and it’s not even done yet. How beautiful is it!

As soon as we got to the ferry station on the island, we ran into a group that was doing the same thing we were! They agreed to cab it up to one of the most affected areas with us, and we became instant friends!

It turns out they are all dancers and Broadway actors in NYC! We had a great time talking about all of their endeavors and getting to know each other on the ride over. Traffic was terrible, and there were several gas stations out of gas, or with lines all the way around the block to get gas. It was really sad.

About 30 minutes later, we arrived at a central distribution location that was organizing supplies and sending people out to go help certain areas of town that needed it the most.

Adam and Sarah came with Michelle and I to go help a family nearby. When we got there, we found out that they had been victims of hurricane Irene (or Helen or both) a couple of years ago, and had just redone their basement from when it flooded during those storms.

First, we helped them rake debris out of their front yard, since there was another storm coming that week and they wanted it as clean as possible. Then, we went inside to help clean the floor of their recently redone basement. There was drywall and mud caked on their beautiful new tile floors. The drywall was all ripped out because the flooding was that bad. This family lost everything. It was terrible.

So we got to work scraping the floor downstairs, and before we knew it, it looked a ton better than it did before!! Gotta love teamwork .

The best picture we took the whole time":

We love Irma and Izzie and Nic and their whole family! We were so blessed to have met them and been able to help them. Even if it wasn’t for very long, we still got to have a little fun and lift their spirits! What an amazing experience! We pray that they are doing well and rebuilding day by day .

Here we are waiting for the train at the train station:

After we got back to the ferry station, it was time for coffee and chocolate!

The cupcake was gone in about 2.5 seconds. The coffee was hazelnut and vanilla mixed, and was fantastic!! Hit the spot!!

Here is an amazing picture that Michelle took on our way back to Manhattan:

Beautiful. She represents an amazing country that will come together in a time of crisis and make the best of the cards they are dealt. I am blessed and proud to say I am an American!

Happy Trails!

Stacey