Carper honors Sandy volunteers

 Sen. Carper met volunteers from the American Red Cross Delmarva Region today and thanked them for their service during Superstorm Sandy. (photo courtesy Sen. Carper's office)

Sen. Carper met volunteers from the American Red Cross Delmarva Region today and thanked them for their service during Superstorm Sandy. (photo courtesy Sen. Carper's office)

They left their homes not to flee from the storm but to run to help those hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy.  

Delaware Senator Tom Carper welcomed a group of Red Cross volunteers from Delaware in his Washington office this morning to thank them for their service to their neighbors.  “They left their own state and they went in some cases to New Jersey where as we know the devastation was just awful,” said Carper. 

In addition to meeting with the volunteers in his office Carper also praised their efforts in a floor speech in the Senate.  “They went out to help people they didn’t know in a state that maybe they frankly weren’t that familiar with.  They did whatever they could to help these folks, made sure that they got fed and sheltered and got a start on recovering.”

Carper likened the volunteer effort to the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan.  “What we had before us in the wake of Hurricane Sandy was a whole lot of people, men and women, and even young people, who decide, ‘Hey, it’s time for me to be a Good Samaritan.”  Carper said, “They provided a great example for the rest of us.”

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Overall, more than 17,000 trained Red Cross workers from around the country helped set up shelters, provide food and support in the months following Sandy.  That group, mostly made up of volunteers served 17.5 million meals and snacks and handed out seven million relief items like clean-up supplies and cold weather gear.

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