NECHAMA is keeping a close eye on the track and impact of Hurricane Sandy. The storm killed 58 people as it passed through the Caribbean and its effects are now being felt in Florida. Hurricane Sandy poses a serious threat to the East Coast early next week.
On July 3rd, the city of Bemidji, MN was hit by a powerful storm that knocked down thousands of trees by the 80+ mph winds, damaging many homes and destroying large portions of forest. As time went by, there still remained several households in need of assistance and county 9-1-1 Supervisor and Emergency Management Director Beryl Wernberg made a request to NECHAMA for help.
On September 12th, a small team from NECHAMA traveled up to Bemidji, MN and got to work. Our team was able to successfully clear hazardous free-standing and downed trees from five homes in the area. By the end of response trip they had felled 19 trees and cut up another 62, helping residents accomplish what they were not able to do on their own.
Area Resident and NECHAMA client Barbara S. had this to say about our work:
"I paid a tree crew $700 to remove three trees immediately after the storm, but could not afford to spend more to finish the rest. As a widow on Social Security, this [NECHAMA’s help] is a major saving for me. It certainly carries out the meaning of your name, which I learned means ‘comfort’ in Hebrew. Thank you so much for making that comfort available to me."
Thank you to those who gave to help support our ongoing efforts within the state of Minnesota and throughout the rest of the country. Without you, we would not be able to bring comfort to the countless residents affected by natural disasters every year.
Fall Fashion Week may have wrapped up in New York City but we are getting out our hippest new threads here at the NECHAMA world headquarters in Minneapolis. Just in time for the annual trend-making season of autumn, we are announcing a design contest for the back of our popular T-shirts that are worn by volunteers on disaster deployments and A-listers on Fifth Avenue (…we wish).
Front and back of our current shirt. (model: Starbuck Ballner)
Calling all the creative design and “fashionista” NECHAMA supporters out there, we want YOU to help create the next layout of our volunteer t-shirts which will be worn and seen at every future NECHAMA disaster deployment across the country from the Mid-West to the Gulf Coast.
The current T-shirt front with the NECHAMA Star of David logo will remain the same. The t-shirt color and lettering will remain their respective blue (#0038A8) and white(#FFFFFF) with the current font type. On the back of the t-shirt we want you to include:
Feel free to use your creativity for any other elements that you see fit.
The deadline for submissions is November 5th at midnight Central Standard Time. Please attach a copy of your design in ".jpg" format at 72dpi and send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with "T-Shirt Design" in the subject line.
The winning designer(s) will be announced and displayed in our December newsletter and awarded a T-shirt in their size of choice. Submissions may be used in their entirety or a single element may be used from multiple entries to create a hybrid new T-shirt design. If there are a variety of design elements used from multiple entries, each designer will be entered to win the GRAND PRIZE, a brand new iPod Shuffle. Otherwise, the winning designer will receive the Grand Prize in addition to the prestige and gloating rights that come along with it.