McVay’s Deb Bergmann Inspires Friends and Colleagues to Help Sandy Victims

12/7/2012

Deb Bergmann and her daughter, Kay Skeen, drove to New Jersey to donate supplies.

Moved by what she saw on television and heard from old friends, Deb Bergmann, an ESL paraprofessional at McVay Elementary School, decided to take action to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Her friend, Molly Watson, grew up in Manasquan, New Jersey, and she had personal connections on the East Coast who were willing to help.

Bergmann spread the word throughout Westerville City Schools, in Sunbury, and on Facebook that she and her daughter, Kay Skeen, would drive to Manasquan the Sunday before Thanksgiving, bringing donated supplies that were desperately needed. The Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and Condit Presbyterian jumped on the band wagon to help. Collection drives were held at McVay, Wilder and Robert Frost elementary schools, and enough money was donated to cover the cost of gas and tolls for the trip. When the volunteers packed Bergmann’s Suburban Sunday evening, they filled it with 153 new blankets, more than 250 new books, 32 packs of batteries, 50 flashlights, 45 bags, and a full box of gloves and hats.

In Manasquan the duo met with Pastor Joe Gratzel of the First Baptist Church. “Where I thought I would find devastation and ruin, I saw hope and love in action,” said Bergmann. “Local people were organizing to do what they each do best – getting through the crisis and looking at how to move forward.”

Recovery will take a long time. Bergmann hopes to return with a group of helpers in the spring or summer.