Many families in the two communities served by the Oakland-Franklin Lakes Rotary suffered damage during last October’s Hurricane.
Many families were able to call their insurance companies to make claims, and some were able to receive FEMA assistance.
Some families however, did not have flood insurance and FEMA assistance was just not enough to make all the repairs to their homes by the damage caused by Sandy.
One of those families who were not able to make the repairs to their home lives in Oakland, and their situation was brought to the attention of the OFL Rotary Club who decided to take their home on as a project.
Aside from the flooding damage that occurred, a large tree had fallen poking several holes in the roof and allowing rain and snow to leak into the small home on Ramapo Terrace.
The OFL Rotary Club banded together and recruited three specialized contractors to repair the damaged roof with new sheathing and shingles. They also repaired roof joists that were broken, and replaced the insulation that got wet. The interior received all new drywall and three coats of joint compound. Lastly, the ceiling was painted to complete the project.
According to OFL Rotary President Peter Kikot, “We also removed 30 yards of debris that had washed onto the property and into surrounding properties as well as against the banks of the river. We collected all of that trash that would otherwise have been left to rot and damage our river or worse, damage other areas down river.”
Kikot noted “This was really a river cleanup project as much as it was an effort to help this local family.”
The tree that did most of the damage as well as another tree that is dead will be removed once the snow melts.
The Oakland Franklin Lakes Rotary cub is looking for an electrician to help replace a broken mast, a fence contractor to replace a broken fence, and a contractor to replace a broken window. “We’ll get it all done for this family!” added club member and clean up specialist Joseph Russo.
Special thanks go to Cedar Hill Construction of Ramsey, Kitchen Technique of Fair lawn, Downes Tree Services of Hawthorne, Pequannock Disposal of Riverdale, carpenter Nick DeCandia. The OFL Rotarians leading the project included Peter J. Kikot, Joseph Russo, Rick Lepre, Peter Sarandinaki and Eileen Bassi.
Kikot offered that, “There is also a misconception by many that Rotary is only an international organization and that we do not do things locally. That is simply not the case. We have participated in food delivery projects with the Woman’s Club for several years, have contributed to many Oakland Cares projects, have donated thousands of dollars in Scholarships to local high school students going to college and were the original sponsors of the Oakland Carnival when it was just a one day event….We are also working on a new initiative to fight the abuse of drugs and alcohol in our communities through our newly created RAD Program – Rotarian’s Against Drugs – that we hope to unveil to the community in April.”
The club also committed to help the family to purchase a medical ‘trike” to help Heather with her mobility. This piece of equipment is estimated to cost just over $2,000.00 (assembled and delivered). Donations are being accepted now to cover the costs of the trike.
You can view the trike at: http://www.flaghouse.com/display-item-3663.