Flathead volunteers served Sandy victims

Lew Savik’s voice cracks with emotion as he reads the email from his “new family in Lindenhurst, New York” thanking him and his Helena Red Cross partner Jim White for serving them hot meals after Superstorm Sandy.

“Words cannot say what you both meant to us in our time of need. We’re going to miss you guys, with your horn and laughter. (Best hot dogs in town.) I would also like to say thank you to your families for sharing you with us in our time of need. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! You lifted our hearts and spirits and I thank you for that. Sandy didn’t take everything! You will be missed but not forgotten. Best wishes, Laura Ciccone.”

Appreciation like that keeps Lew Savik, 72, of Kalispell, sacrificing events such as his granddaughter’s state volleyball tournament to jump in a Red Cross emergency rescue vehicle and drive across the United States to help after a disaster. 

It’s the same for John and Margie Donoghue, both 80, who operated a mobile food truck about 30 miles north of Atlantic City on the New Jersey shore.

“The people would come out and they were really excited to see us,” John Donoghue said. “They were without power, without water and it was cold.”

Savik said that he had posted himself unavailable for Red Cross duty the last week of October and first two weeks of November because of the Class AA state volleyball tournament including his granddaughter Kwyn Johnson, a senior star for the Flathead Bravettes (the Bravettes went on to place second at state). 

He said no when he got a call that only one person was available and two were needed to take a two-person vehicle to New York.

“I hung up and immediately remorse started to set in,” he said. 

After discussing it with his wife, Savik decided volleyball shouldn’t eclipse giving a hand to people in New York. He left Nov. 2 for Helena, where he joined White, and they headed east.

“On the fourth day at midafternoon, we arrived at the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City, which was the in-processing place,” Savik said. “We were assigned to a staff shelter that ultimately had 300 volunteers.”

For the duration, he and White slept on canvas cots. A veteran of several disaster deployments, Savik knew enough to bring a pad and sleeping bag.

“That canvas gets hard,” he said.

He and White were assigned to a kitchen operated by the Southern Baptist Convention in partnership with the Red Cross in Deer Park on Long Island. The truck was one of 25 to 30 distributing hot food from insulated chests.

“Jim and I were given the assignment to feed hot meals to the town of Lindenhurst,” he said. “We were pretty fortunate because we served that area the whole time. It was just a delight getting to know those people.”

According to Savik, that area suffered mainly flood damage. He said most of the homes got hit with about four feet of sea water that destroyed their furniture, carpets, appliances and furnaces.

People still had no electricity or heat when Savik and White first hit the streets of Lindenhurst, sounding their blowhorn and announcing the day’s entree over the loud speakers. 

“Most of the time we would go out with 300 meals,” he said. 

Because of a 7 p.m. curfew, White and Savik were only able to serve one meal a day on their route. The Donoghues served two meals a day to people on the Jersey shore who were some of the hardest hit by Sandy.

John Donoghue said they also delivered food a few times to shelters to people evacuated from houses at sea level repeatedly flooded by the storm surge. 

“They got hit about every six hours with a heavy 4- to 5-foot wash into their homes of tidal water and sand,” he said. “Then, of course, it recedes and that’s where the erosion took place.”

Foundations were undermined and streets were filled with sand, making them impassable. He said that was where most of the government recovery efforts were focused on restoring services and clearing streets. 

Most of the time, the Donoghues performed a search-and-serve operation in assigned neighborhoods where, like Savik and White, they sounded their horn and used the loudspeaker to announce their arrival. They made two runs a day with cleanup kits, comfort kits and hot food.

“We carried 400 portions, and we had no problem disposing of it all,” John said. “When they came out of the houses to get the meals, they were so cold that they were wrapped in blankets.”

When a second powerful storm hit, John, Margie and other volunteers were about to seek shelter when a huge van of supplies arrived, so they unloaded during the storm. Many people had just regained power when the high winds and foot of snow arrived.

“There went the power again,” he said. “They got hit twice.” 

According to Donoghue, the Red Cross volunteers kept north toward the evacuated Barrier Islands. This was the Seaside Heights area with the amusement park where a roller coaster ended up in the bay. 

The Donoghues were serving in the area as people were taken in school buses for their first look at their damaged homes.

“I tell you the emotions were just crushing,” he said. “People were so anxious just to get there, then they were just crushed to see 4 to 5 feet of actual sand inside their homes. Most of the foundations were gone and there were boats everywhere — sitting in people’s yards and even [rammed] in people’s houses.”

John said he and Margie have seen a lot of destruction over the years, including Hurricane Katrina seven years ago. He said Sandy’s damage was widespread, covering an area from Delaware to Connecticut. 

 He said the Red Cross assigns certain hardship codes to disasters to let volunteers know what to expect, such as temperature, lack of power, minimal sleeping conditions and nutrition. 

“This is the first assignment that we have ever had that had all 12 hardship codes on it,” he said.

With their advancing ages, John said he and Margie have discussed moving to less labor-intense volunteering such as administration. Because they enjoy working as a team, the couple have served in front-line, hands-on assignments all through their 70s.

So far, Donoghue said, they have kept up with people much younger than them.  

“But there’s no question we don’t bounce back as quick as we did some years ago,” he said with a laugh. “For a couple of old-timers, Margie and I were glad to see Glacier International Airport.”

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.