More than two weeks after Hurricane Sandy pounded New York, New Jersey and Connecticut – often referred to as the tri-state area – personal stories of volunteerism continue to pour into my inbox.
Today, an email came from an unlikely source. It was from Ms. Diamond.
Ms. Diamond is a retired renaissance art-collector, world traveler, and wealthy widow with a sprawling museum-like mansion near Central Park. I met her several years ago through a Chinese fashion designer/art-curator who introduced Ms. Diamond to the city and culture of Shanghai. Ms. Diamond is always poised and calm, but today on the phone – she sounded outraged.
“So many people are still without power and heat in Rockaways. FEMA didn’t know what to do when a disaster strikes an area with urban landscape. My son was out there in Rockaways, he is offering help and asking for money. Of course I sent money. I can’t go out there anymore, I’m physically limited. But where’s the money? Where’s the power for the victims?” Ms. Diamond seemed exasperated.
We started discussing the plight of some 60,000 businesses and homes still without power after she’d forwarded her son’s e-mail to me – asking for money. When I first opened her e-mail this morning, I doubted for a moment it came from her. I thought it might be spam or a scam. There have been horror stories of FEMA impersonators going around storm-ravaged neighborhoods asking hurricane victims to give out their social security numbers and personal information. So, I called Ms. Diamond to verify that email came from her, and to clarify her needs.
The first few graphs of her e-mail read,
“I received this e-mail from my son late yesterday afternoon. Of course I sent money, but in addition I’m forwarding it to a few friends. Regards, Hester
To my friends and family: this may be unprecedented. I don’t think I have EVER e-mailed any of you directly asking for $ to support something, but what I have seen in Rockaway, NY this past week in the aftermath of Sandy is beyond words and warrants immediate concerted efforts. It is much worse than the words or images we have seen in the media. We have a full on Katrina situation in our own backyard. It’s now potentially far worse with freezing temperatures, and a potential long term power outage.
There is no consistent source of hot food out there for residents or police and sanitation workers who are working so hard in 12-hour shifts. At one point while distributing warm meals this week we encountered an entire block of folks who had not eaten in two days.”
“Yes, it’s me. You’re good to call to check.” Ms. Diamond said.
Ms. Diamond’s son, who’s unaffected by the hurricane and financially sound, has taken upon himself to lead a group of volunteers to help with food distribution and clean-up efforts in the Rockaways.
“He’s only talked to his wife three times, three minutes each over the past week. He’s strictly writing and speaking from his heart, he’s never seen anything this bad.” Ms. Diamond spoke movingly about how Superstorm Sandy drove her son to act in unprecedented ways.
After I told Ms. Diamond I’d also do my part to contribute to the victims, I began to think about countless other untold stories of volunteerism because of this storm. Yes, there were also horror stories, there were also scams. And yes – my own neighborhood is totally unscathed. But I find myself continually uplifted and inspired everyday by new acts of care and compassion that also emerge from unexpected people and places to those in need – because of this storm.距飓风桑迪席卷纽约、新泽西和康涅狄格州（通常被称为三州地区）已经两个多星期了，但是志愿者的个人事迹仍如潮水般涌入我的收件箱。
今天，一位意想不到的人给我发了一封邮件。是Diamond 夫人。
Diamond 夫人是一位退休的文艺复兴艺术品收藏家、环球旅行者。同时她也是一位富有的寡妇。在中央公园附近，她拥有一幢如博物馆一般广阔的豪宅。我们是在几年前通过一位中国时装设计师/艺术策展人认识的。当时这位设计师向Diamond夫人介绍了上海这座城市及其文化。平日里Diamond夫人总是从容淡定，但是今天电话那头的她却听上去有些愤怒。
“在Rockaways仍有很多人得不到供电供暖。当灾难袭击城市时，联邦应急管理局就束手无策了。我的儿子现在还在Rockaways为他人提供帮助并向人们筹款。我当然已经捐了款。但由于身体的原因，我已经无法亲临现场了。可是钱都哪里去了？该给灾民提供的电都哪里去了？”Diamond夫人似乎被激怒了。
看完Diamond夫人转发的她儿子的关于筹款的邮件，我们开始讨论大约60000家的商铺和家园仍缺乏电力的困境。早晨刚打开她的邮件时，我还一度怀疑这不是她发的。我认为这可能是一封垃圾邮件或是一场骗局。我们听说了一些令人不安的故事：有人冒充联邦应急管理局在飓风受灾地区骗取飓风受灾者的社会保险号以及个人信息。因此，我致电Diamond夫人，想证实邮件确实出自她手，并且弄清她的需求。
她的邮件的前几段是这样写的：
“昨天傍晚我收到儿子的邮件。当然，我已经捐了款，但是我还是把这份邮件转发给了一些朋友。
至我的朋友和家人：这或许是史无前例的。我从来没有想到自己会发邮件给你们中任何一个人，请求你们捐款来支持什么。但是在过去这一个星期里，纽约州的Rockaways一直处于桑迪的余波中，我在那里见到的景象是无法用言语形容的，是值得大家立即共同努力去改善的。那里的情形比媒体上文字和图片形容的还要糟糕。当年卡特里娜在我们身边留下的景象仍历历在目。如今天寒地冻，还有可能长期断电，情形可能比当时还要严重的多。
在这里，居民以及12小时轮班辛勤工作的警察和环卫工人无法获得持续的热食供应。这周在一次分发热食时，我们遇到了大片的人群堵塞。这些人已经两天没有吃过东西了。”
“是的，是我。你打电话来确认是对的。”Diamond夫人说。
Diamond夫人的儿子并没有受到飓风的影响，经济状况也良好。目前他正领导一批志愿者在Rockaways协助食物分发以及清理工作。
“在过去一周，他只和妻子通过三次电话，每次只有三分钟。他所写的所说的都是发自内心，他从来没有看到过这么糟的情况。”Diamond夫人讲述这这场超级飓风桑迪如何驱使她的儿子以前所未有的方式行动，声音令人动容。
在我告诉Diamond夫人, 我也会对受灾群众贡献出自己的力量。 之后我的脑海里浮现出一个想法：因为这场风暴，还有无数不为人知的志愿者的故事发生了。是的，这里也有恐怖的故事，有骗局。是的，我身边的人毫发未损。但是我发现自己每天都为不断涌现出的关心同情之举感到振奋愉悦 。 我发现在意外的地点，意外的人, 给予那些需要帮助的人们的关心同情之举。 这一切都归功于这场风暴。