Cleaning Up After the LA Riots
© Janine Boylan

Coming Together to Help

As I see photos of the mess that Sandy left behind, my thoughts go out to all of those who have suffered and lost and to those who have made one of life’s important choices: to help.

From Fear to Action in the LA Riots

During disasters, life choices stare you in the face. I had that Oh, I see moment in 1992 when another kind of disaster struck my hometown, Los Angeles.

Videos of Rodney King being beaten by police sparked riots during which neighbors rose up against neighbors simply because they had different ethnic backgrounds. People made destructive choices: they smashed windows, set fires, and ransacked local small stores.

As the news reporters covered this event in progress, I chose to huddle fearfully in my apartment behind locked doors.

The next morning, I heard that people were gathering in the middle of the city to clean up what had happened the night before. Something had changed. I needed to be there and help, and that’s when I made a bolder, different choice.

I pulled my truck into the gathering area and saw scores of people of all races and ages already there. I didn’t know a single other person, but within a few minutes, my truck bed was filled with people carrying shovels, brooms, garbage bags, and gloves. We drove slowly around the city and searched for places to clean up.

But this city, which only a few hours before had been blaring with fire-truck sirens and filled with shouts and crashing glass, was already quiet and clean. Early in the morning, hundreds of people had come out to clear away the rubble. There were so many of us, in fact, that my group struggled to find anything to clean up. We ended up pulling weeds from a vacant lot in an effort to do something to beautify the city again.

And then, as quickly as we had come together, we went our separate ways, leaving behind a cleaner, more caring community.

It certainly wasn’t the last time disaster struck the city, and the local shopkeepers still had to overcome the devastating loss that the previous night had brought them. But it showed me how, when a community needs help, especially in the darkest times, other people make the tough choice to lend a hand.

For me, participating in this brief LA clean-up was one of life’s choices that I will never forget because I learned, in this OIC moment, that making the choice to help others in my community was the best way to get through tough times: together.

Pitching In After Hurricane Sandy

I know the clean-up from Sandy will take much longer than a few hours. And while some people are taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes like looting or soliciting money for fraudulent “charities,” there are already many stories of people making choices to stand up, clean up, and lend a hand.

• In Hoboken, New Jersey, people who still had power offered fresh coffee and extension cords to their neighbors who needed to recharge themselves and their cell phones.
• In several storm-ravaged cities, including New York City,  restaurant owners set out tables of food for anyone in need.
• The New York Times reports that the volunteer organization New York Cares has about 800 people helping in affected areas right now, and there are 6,000 more who have volunteered and are waiting for assignments.

And then this weekend, according to the Associated Press, hundreds of runners made a life choice: instead of being disappointed and leaving when the New York City Marathon was cancelled, they decided to stay in the city and help.

In Queens, one group ran up and down stairs in buildings that still are without power. These runners delivered water, blankets, and food to people who could not get out on their own.

Another group put on backpacks brimming with supplies and ran through devastated Staten Island neighborhoods where they delivered batteries, clothing, food, and more to the people there who have lost so much. 

As New York resident Esther Pan Sloane donated supplies to a relief center, she told The New York Times, “It feels like we all had the same impulse: This is my city and I want to do something to help it.”

There’s so much more to do, but it’s heartening to see so many who have decided to help. It’s one of life’s most important choices.

If you wish to help the victims of Sandy, learn more here.

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