Post contributed by our Young Bright Scholar, Fatimah Khan.

My parents have wanted to help the victims of hurricane Sandy and today was our lucky day.  They woke up at 9 am on a Saturday morning to ride a long hour and 20 minute drive to Staten Island.  We dropped my little sisters off at my grandparent’s house and picked up my uncle from there.  In the car were my mom, dad, my brother Kasim, my uncle Hasan, and I.  We were all super excited.  When Kasim gets really happy he gets in this annoying but funny mood and he kept most of us in a good mood as well, making the drive go by faster. 

When we got to Staten Island, all we saw was destroyed houses with yellow, blue, or red slips on the door.  The different slips told whether or not it was safe to go into a house.  We were surprised by how much they got hit, especially those lived near the water; we assumed that there wouldn’t be too much probably because nothing really happened to us personally.  When we reached the volunteer registration station, we were assigned to gather supplies and deliver them to the houses requesting them.  It was really nice to grab the supplies and bring it to their houses.  Some of the people had no electricity, and no cars to drive in to go out and buy the supplies.  Some people needed basic necessities like water, hot food, and blankets.  Others needed mops, brooms, contractor bags, mold treatment, and bleach.  The best part about the “job” was seeing the people because they were so thankful and would say “God Bless You!” Every time I heard those words, I smiled and it gave me this pleasure and inner happiness.