Community Corner

Salvation Army Still Holding $24 Million in Sandy Relief Money

Group says it's planning for long-term recovery but victims say they need money now

Of the $30.7 million the Salvation Army has raised for Superstorm Sandy victims, the group has only spent approximately $6 million, or 20 percent, according to an article on app.com.

The rest is being held in reserve to address long-term recovery needs in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut over the next few years, a strategy that has drawn criticism from some Sandy victims and a charity watchdog group.

Among the victims critical of the relief organization is Melissa Koenig, whose family was displaced from their Union Beach home for about six months.

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She said she contacted the Salvation Army this fall, seeking help with temporary housing while the home was being lifted, but by the time she heard back from anyone several weeks later, she said, she and her husband had paid $2,000 for a trailer and the lifting project was finished.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Koenig said of the charity’s long-term spending plan. “Figure out a way to disperse it. People need the money now.”

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Salvation Army leaders, however, insist they are taking a prudent approach, based on the organization’s many years of experience responding to disasters like Sandy.

To read the full article, click on link above.

Have you sought financial help from the Salvation Army after being flooded by Sandy? Did you receive any assistance? If not, how do you feel about that? Please let us know what your experience was like in the Comments section. Thank you.


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