社交媒体成民间救灾利器

    沿着公路走了大概20个街区后，一个名叫莎伦女士的中年黑人妇女已经在一家“超级干净自助干洗店”（Super Clean Laundromat）停车场的帆布篷下面支起了桌子。一辆在市中心常见的那种午餐车正在停车场的另一端派发三明治。莎伦女士也开始分发我们的三明治，还让我们把剩下的汤放到桌子的一角。它们正在迅速变凉。

    这时已经快到傍晚，日光和白天那种相对的安全感也在渐渐退去。我们还剩200个三明治，不知道该送到哪里去。就在我们卸货的时候，有三个留着胡子的男人突然搬着几箱水，从一辆老款的道奇卡拉万里钻出来，身上用胶带贴着“占领桑迪”的标签。我追上那辆车，拍他们的车窗问他们是否用得上200多个三明治。一个叫诺亚的男人说：“当然了，我们可以带上，分发出去。”

    回到教堂后，我和安迪坐在一起，讨论他的救灾活动的未来。这时最后一批食物也已经分发出去了，米特神父也走了进来，确保安迪知道怎样锁门。安迪告诉我，他在“9•11”事件后也做过类似的事，也就是给需要的人做饭。“不过当时有点不一样，那时也没有Facebook和Twitter——当时我们根本没法把事情做得像今天这样大。”

    下一步会怎样？随着他们的招牌打了出去，更多的人得知“桑迪飓风救灾厨房”的存在，一车车的物资还在源源不断地赶来。不过终有一天，安迪得回去工作，萨拉也得回去继续自己的学业。另外，在山姆和莎伦女士生活的那一带驻扎的企业，恐怕在相当长的一段时间内还不会回来。安迪的慈善组织正在筹划一顿盛大的感恩节大餐，而且只要捐赠不断，志愿者不断，他们的热情不断，他们希望继续在周四和周五向灾民提供食物。

    译者：朴成奎

    About 20 blocks down the road, a middle-aged African American woman named Ms. Sharon had set up a table beneath a tarp in the parking lot of the Super Clean Laundromat. A food truck more frequently seen feeding the midtown lunch crowd was distributing sandwiches on the other side of the lot, so Ms. Sharon passed on our sandwiches and pointed to a small section of the table to unload the remainder of our rapidly cooling soup.

    It was late afternoon, and the light, with its relative safety, was fading. We still had 200 sandwiches and no idea where to take them. As we unloaded, three bearded men with the signature "Occupy Sandy" duct tape name tags spilled out of an old Dodge caravan with cases of water. I chased after the car and rapped on the window to ask if the guys could use 200 or so sandwiches. "Sure," a guy called Noah replied. "We'll take them. We can distribute them."

    Later, back at the church, I sat down with Andy to talk about the future of his relief efforts. The last food dispatch had left for the day, and Pastor Daniel Meeter had checked in to make sure he knew how to lock up. Andy had done a similar thing after 9/11, he told me—helped with some cooking for people who needed it. "It was different then. That was before Facebook and Twitter—there's no way we could have done anything this massive."

    What happens next? Trucks of supplies are still arriving as more people learn about the Hurricane Sandy Relief Kitchen, as they have now branded their effort. But Andy must return to work at some point; Sara must return to her studies. Meanwhile, the businesses will not come back in the neighborhoods Sam and Ms. Sharon serve for a long time—if ever. The group had a large Thanksgiving meal planned, and they hope to continue offering meals on Wednesdays and Fridays for as long as the donations and the volunteers and the need and, of course, their energy, holds.