New group organizes volunteers, requests

People wanting to help families rebuild after the flood will be coordinated by Manville Cares.

By: Mary Ellen Zangara
   An army of volunteers is forming and getting ready to start knocking on doors in Manville to offer help to families rebuilding after the flood.
   The volunteers will be coordinated by Manville Cares, a group North 10th Avenue resident Robert Kita has organized after learning how many people in the area were anxious to help Manville residents, but didn’t know where to go.
   Mr. Kita said he got the idea as he was helping to coordinate messages to the community from the borough’s Office of Emergency Management.
   Mr. Kita was making announcements on the borough’s emergency radio station (1700 AM ), as well as helping get announcements to the police, the Red Cross and Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke for OEM Director Ken Otrimski. He realized he had access to all of the information, so it made sense to try and get it out to volunteers who could help.
   "I had the ability to let people know that they could volunteer," he said. "Having been down to the VFW, talking to the staff that was working there, they had lists of people who wanted to volunteer that already signed up. As I saw it, I knew that there was going to be a need for people to repair their homes, general clean up, or sanitize, or move furniture out to the curb."
   Mr. Kita created a message and used the name Manville Cares — and that’s where it started.
   "People started responding and I created an e-mail address so that people could respond and people did respond willing to volunteer," said Mr. Kita.
   He’s heard from residents of Greenbrook, Ridge and South Plainfield, offering their time and services to help. Some are carpet and flooring installers, some are carpenters and others have other skills to offer.
   Manville residents want to help their neighbors, also — Amy Sawyer lives in the valley and works with insurance so Mr. Kita said she may be able to answer any insurance-related questions people may have about their damaged property.
   There are people who are willing to help at nearly all times of the day and on weekends that have already contacted the group.
   "Having the announcement up on Thursday (April 19) just got the ball rolling. We received an e-mail from someone in Ridge," said Mr. Kita.
   "I am very happy how this group has started to root itself into the community," said Karen Ziemianek, who’s helping coordinate the volunteers for Manville Cares. "We have had some awesome volunteers come forward and we have had a lot of volunteers come forward and we had a lot of people inquire about having help and we helped them. There is still a lot of help to be had and needed."
   Mr. Kita said the group has been focused this week on spreading the word.
   "Our job is to coordinate and get these people their help," he said. "Everyone homeowner will know that there are volunteers. Right now, we have more volunteers than homeowners that need help because they don’t know about it. Right now we want to get the word out."
   Mr. Kita said he hopes people will knock on their neighbors’ doors to see if they need anything. "The worst thing that could happen is that they say, ‘No, we don’t need your help right now,’ " he said.
   Volunteers are invited to stop by the Manville Wal-Mart store on North Main Street between 8 and 9 a.m. Saturday, where they can receive an assignment for the day to help. The Manville Cares volunteers will have an ID to show they are part of the volunteer efforts.
   To have a volunteer assigned to help, call 725-9478, ext. 110, and leave a message with your name, address and a phone number.
   Or send an e-mail to [email protected] or call Ms. Ziemianek at Weston Elementary School at 231-8548.