Sister Stamm was able to help with Hurricane Sandy Cleanup--just after Thanksgiving...this is part of her email.   
            We went to Jersey on Saturday to help with Mormon helping hands. It took 3 hours to get through the not even 1.5 hour drive because off all the police checkpoints. It was so cool to see though because they were not letting anyone without a pass in but all we had to say was we are with mormon helping hands and they would give you a pass. One cop under his breath after giving some of our members his pass said " You guys are such good people" and " what you are doing is really amazing." People are noticing.
            We helped this couple with their house. The man Billy had lived there his whole life and is blind now. He was so distraught and his wife had no idea where to start. This was only the second day anyone has been allowed back on to the island. They had 8-12 inches of water in their house in Ortley beach from the storm surge. The neighborhood had so much damage. They are between the ocean and the bay so they got hammered. I bet it was so cute before the storm. We got everything out that could be salvaged and the rest went to the curb. Then we tore out all the carpet and drywall and insulation 4 feet high. It was a fun job. I like hammering holes in the wall. We had to be off the island at three because the garbage trucks come up and down the streets and get everything from the curbs.
            It was so sad to see them have to lose so much and Billy not being able to see anything. He could just hear us tearing his house apart. They were so lucky though. They still have an upstairs unaffected and were not condemned like a lot of the other houses our s crews have worked on. It will be at least 10 months before any kind of electricity will start to be fixed and things like that I guess. This is going to be a long road for these people. They were so grateful for what we did. We saved them thousands of dollars and really gave them a place to start when they were to shocked to know what to do.
            The island was crazy to see. Boardwalk gone, house smashed, boats all over in houses and piles and piles of trashed things all along the roads. There was a roller coaster in the ocean a few blocks from where we were. It was really devastation like I have never seen before. They got hit hard.