OccupySupply got a lot of experience keeping occupiers warm last year through the cold winter, so it was only natural that when Superstorm Sandy left people without power we’d send supplies to help them out.

We’ve been talking with organizers from Occupy Sandy, NY Communities for Change and other groups who are getting supplies to people still without power.  And with a cold front approaching, the one thing that they are all asking for is blankets.

So OccupySupply wants to send a thousand blankets to be divided among groups who are racing to prepare for a major oncoming cold snap.

As Dave Dayen and Kevin Gosztola have both reported, residents of Staten Islanders and the Rockaway Peninsula feel that they have largely been left to fend for themselves by FEMA and the Red Cross.

According to Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, who appeared on Democracy Now:

…I’ve got to tell you, as the borough president of Staten Island, of a half-a-million people, I am disappointed at some of these not-for-profit organizations that collect lots and lots of money from Staten Islanders and didn’t respond, and one of them being this American Red Cross. I have not seen the American Red Cross at a shelter. I have not seen them down south shore, where people are buried in their own homes, have nothing to eat, have nothing to drink.

It’s very much to the credit of the Occupy Wall Street folks that many stepped in to organize Occupy Sandy. They are working with other community groups to distribute not only supplies but provide boots on the ground to offer aid to people who have lost everything.

Woobie blankets

Woobie blanket

The blankets we’ll be sending were tested for heat efficiency and durability last year by occupiers across the country.  They include polar fleece blankets for warmth and light weight water-resistant woobie blankets used by the military that trap body heat.  We’ll also be sending space blankets, which form a protective layer from the cold either underneath a sleeping bag or on top of bedding.

A lot of the bedding that has been donated, or that people may have already, is just not going to be effective against icy rain and temperatures dropping into the 30s later this week.  We’ve been down this road before, and we know what a difference it makes in people’s lives to have state-of-the art equipment keeping them warm.

Because we buy in large quantities it costs us far less than it would cost community groups or individuals to buy these supplies.  They are all made in the USA, and the fleece blankets are union made.  100% of all donations will go purchasing and shipping blankets and if there is anything left over we’ll send socks, hand warmers and other supplies they urgently need.

Can you chip in $20 to help us send 1000 blankets for Sandy relief before the cold front hits?