hard due to the Hudson River surging, and Hoboken’s mayor ordered evacuations of garden or basement apartments. The day before Sandy hit, Cassidy spent the day packing. He put his important documents, his laptop and other irreplaceable items in his car and drove to the home of Katie ’09 and Phil Gengler ’05 in New Providence, N.J., to ride it out. Cassidy hoped that by leaving, he would minimize his loss. He was one of the lucky ones: his home, which is a first-floor unit but raised slightly above street level, sustained no damage, while condos a few feet away had their front doors ripped off the hinges from the force of the storm surge. While in New Providence, his hosts’ home lost electricity for more than a week. He came back to Hoboken two days after the storm to survey the damage, and was awe-struck by what he saw. He knew he had to do something, anything to help. A co-worker told him of a group, Movement for Peace, an organization which was traveling from Michigan to Staten Island to help with the rebuilding effort. Cassidy knew where he would volunteer his time. Less than a week after Sandy hit, Cassidy spent a full day volunteering in Staten Island. On Brighton Street in Tottenville, he helped cook and assemble meals for volunteers and residents who needed a hot meal. He knew his act of kindness would help the badly-damaged area re18 The Stevens Indicator
cover, slowly but surely. Residents, with and without power, shared what they had, everything from cans of soup to trays of baked ziti. Weeks after that day, Cassidy is still amazed at the generosity of those he met. “It was great seeing the community come together,’’ he said. But it wasn’t easy at times. A message board featured pictures of those missing from the neighborhood. “The toughest part was seeing the board,’’ he admitted. “But we managed that day to find the best in people, people who were either helping to clean up or giving us cans of chicken noodle or chicken rice soup to combine into a big pot to share with everyone.’’ The Stevens community also came together many times over to help their Hoboken neighbors. Scores of Stevens students pitched in to help the Mile Square City during the storm, as President Nariman Farvardin mentioned in an alumni email in early November. Without power, elevators in high-rises were dormant and elderly and disabled residents were stuck in their apartments with little food, no drinking water and limited access to replenish supplies. Students immediately volunteered to help Hoboken residents, with many spending their days walking up as many as 25 flights of steps to deliver food, medicine and bottled water to residents. Other students assisted National Guard members who were deployed to
the city. Cassidy has lived in Hoboken for nine years, and has visited family in Hoboken since he was born. And he beams with pride when he mentions all the volunteer work Stevens students did during the storm. “It was great seeing Stevens students out and about, doing what they needed to do for Hoboken,’’ he said. Corey Milloy ’09 was one of many assisting in Hoboken. Milloy rents a fourthfloor apartment on Washington Street in Hoboken. The day after Sandy hit, Milloy delivered meals, flashlights and bottled water to the elderly and shut-ins in highrises. He spent another day running a shelter for those displaced from the storm. The day of the storm, his apartment lost power, but did not sustain any water damage. He went to Hoboken City Hall to see how he could help out and was told that supplies were needed by people in shelters and high-rises throughout the city. Milloy, with a team of about 15-20 others, delivered what was needed to those shut-ins. “One of the things we did was take down prescriptions for people (to be called into pharmacies) and gave them bottles of water,’’ he said. “We also gave out flashlights.’’ He also took note of what supplies were needed. While many supplies were donated by stores and individuals, Milloy noticed that some things were desperately needed, but not donated. So he and his