On Sunday my Miami Dolphins lost a game and I was upset. I am really upset when the Dolphins lose, but somehow this was worse. I felt seriously depressed. I realized that despite minimal personal loss from Hurricane Sandy, I am suffering from the aftermath. Manhattan is getting back to normal and at least one of the trains in my neighborhood is running, but every moment of every day seems consumed with Sandy. Hearing from friends and reading stories and seeing pictures from Sandy’s devastation is constant. Nothing in life seems as important or as funny anymore. There is just a cloud over everything.

Other than losing a couple jobs and not having any transportation I have been very very lucky. So many of my friends and friends of friends have lost so much. Dolfans NYC, the New York City Miami Dolphins fan club I founded has been hit especially hard. The owners of our bar, Third & Long had their homes in Breezy Point destroyed. The bar was without power for almost a week and many of our members in Jersey, Staten Island and Long Island have lost everything they owned. Seeing our bar half empty on Sunday was another reminder of how bad it has been for everyone.

As a club we constantly are trying to raise money for charity. We had promised to raise $1000 for the Miami Dolphins Foundation but ended up raising $1500. We decided to take the extra $500 and donate that to Sandy relief but we wanted to do more. I got out my camera and decided to shoot some video. I interviewed several of our members and the manager of Third & Long and asked them to speak about how the hurricane has impacted their lives. All of us at the bar were the lucky ones but even those that made it out okay were still suffering. I edited the interviews together and put together an online fundraiser at IndieGoGo. The goal is to raise $1000 to donate to the local New York chapter of the Red Cross. There are a bunch of Dolphins related things you get for donating but since most of you aren’t Dolphins fans it might not be quite as appealing. I encourage you to donate anyway.

If you are in New York and want to help out in other ways we are planning a day of service on November 18th. You can contact dolfansnyc@gmail.com for more details. You can also find out other ways to help by checking out the NYC Service website.

If nothing else enjoy the video I put together. Thanks!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e96iFRSg-Ec[/youtube]

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