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August 20, 2004/Elul 3 5764, Vol. 56, No.48
Jews help rebuild after Hurricane Charley
ALANA B ELIAS KORNFELD
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Jennifer Ritter says Hurricane Charley felt like a freight train moving through her home.
"You have your adrenaline pumping and fear, and then it is over and you look around you and it is a disaster zone," said Ritter of Maitland, Fla.
Like thousands of other residents, Ritter, the assoc-iate executive director of the Holocaust Memorial Re-source and Education Center of Central Florida, has been living since the Aug. 13 hurricane amid fallen trees, collapsed transformers, exposed electrical cables and smashed houses.
But Jews throughout Florida are pulling together to help those in need.
"Those with power are hosting those that have severe damages to their homes, to help people get through if they don't have the means to cook food, do laundry, or things we take for granted," Ritter said.
Charley, which to date has registered a death toll of 19, was designated a Category 4 hurricane - the second most destructive type - and was the most harmful hurricane in Florida since Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992.
Karen Coates, the national spokeswoman for the Ameri-can Red Cross, told JTA that 2,424 homes were destroyed; 1,968 homes suffered major damages and are uninhabi-table; and 1,260 have minor damages and are habitable whether or not the habitants choose to remain in them.
Annette Goodman, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Lee and Charlotte Counties, says Temple Shalom, a Reform synagogue in Port Charlotte, Fla., was the synagogue most affected by Charley's wrath.
The temple's educational wing was ripped off the main structure, but the chapel remains untouched, she said.
Barry Swartz, the vice president of United Jewish Communities consulting, says the UJC is accepting donations at local federations and at the group's national mailbox for Jews and non-Jews alike.
Hadassah the Women's Zionist of America, has also launched an appeal to raise funds.
The group estimates that there are at least 1,100 Hadassah members in the affected region.
Hurricane relief fund
Send donations to: Hurricane Charley Disaster Relief, Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 201, Scottsdale 85254, or online at www.jewishphoenix.org.
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