Thousands of people were left without power in New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy swept through the area last October. Since resources were not sufficient to help every customer at the same time, Homestead Energy Services sent a five-man crew to help with the power restoration effort. These five Homestead Energy Services employees were recognized by Councilman Stephen Shelley on behalf of Councilwoman Judy Waldman at the March 20th Homestead City Council meeting for their heroic efforts to help restore power after Hurricane Sandy on Arlington Street in Westbury, New York.
“Here in Homestead we have experience in dealing with hurricanes and storms and it makes me very proud that our staff is using that knowledge to help those in need,” said Councilwoman Waldman. “We know very well what it is to be without power for long periods of time, as well as to be left without a home after a hurricane. I am glad we were able to use our resources to help after Sandy, just like many helped us after Hurricane Andrew.”
After receiving many emails documenting the efforts of this five-man crew, one email in particular stood out to Councilwoman Waldman who decided to recognize Homestead Energy Services linemen William Miner, Wil Worrall, Bret West, Marco Quijano, and Jonathan Ingram for their help restoring power in the area. A resident from Arlington Street in Westbury, New York sent the following email to the City of Homestead.
“On behalf of a few hundred neighbors along Arlington St. here in Westbury Long Island, we want to extend our thanks to your small crew of four linemen from Homestead Energy Services of Homestead FL (Wil indicated that John had to return to Florida urgently). They were actually stopped on their way to another assignment by another resident of the block, but after seeing our situation, assured us they wouldn't leave until we were restored. They proceeded to fix our issue within 3 hours, with help from some tree trimmers from Indiana. Much of our Westbury/New Cassel area had been restored late Monday November 5th , but continuing issues on this block knocked out our little area of about 100 customers early Tuesday again, and many here felt, after calling LIPA multiple times per day, that we were falling through the cracks and may not be addressed for several more days. Thus many people on this block felt a sense of desperation. Wil, Brett, Marco and Bill have become the heroes of Arlington St. We want to highly commend their efficient work and their friendly, patient attitudes with us.”
Councilwoman Waldman also helped the victims of Hurricane Sandy by conducting the “Homestead Gives Back Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive” in which she was able to fill a large truck with hundreds of much needed donations for the residents of Rockaway, New York. Councilwoman Waldman was able to secure vast donations of food, blankets and other needed items with the help of residents and sponsors such as the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Farm Share, Congressman Joe Garcia, Jose Camarillo, from Sky Net, and northAmerican Van Lines and Homestead Transfer and Storage, Co., which donated the truck and driver that delivered the donations.
