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Adelphi鈥檚 Winter Wonderland鈥擜 Welcome Diversion for Tonia Brendel, B.S. 鈥�84, M.S. 鈥�90, and听other Sandy Victims

Nurse practitioner Tonia Brendel, B.S. ’84, M.S. ’90, is a very thankful person. Even with the damage听caused by Hurricane Sandy to her Freeport, New York, home, she knows, “Many people are a lot听worse off.”

鈥淚 evacuated with [my daughters] Veronica (22), Melody (10) and our dog Lilly to my [older] daughter,听Marilyn’s (25) apartment in Connecticut the Sunday before Sandy,鈥� Mrs. Brendel said. Her son, Peter听(19), was away at college. Her husband, Phil Brendel, stayed put to keep an eye on the family home听located near the bay.

Sandy鈥檚 power was evident early on when a bedroom window blew out. As soon as it was repaired, the听property was breached at high tide by eight inches of water. The flooding meant that leaving was unsafe.听Mr. Brendel stayed home and was there when the fuse box began to smolder. By turning off the main听breaker, he probably prevented the house from burning down.

Returning the first Saturday after the storm, Mrs. Brendel could barely control her emotions鈥攑iles of听garbage everywhere, street lights not working, emergency vehicles and police on patrol looking to stop听looting in empty homes. 鈥淎s I drove down our street, I could not help but tear up, but I did not want my听husband to see me cry because he had been working so hard to clean the house [with bleach] so that we听could come home,鈥� she said. Mr. Brendel had been living there for days in the cold and dark.

Making the home livable again has taken a tremendous effort鈥攃leaning, throwing out belongings and听moving what was salvageable so that construction could begin. The Brendels are grateful for the help听they鈥檝e received from volunteers and coworkers who cleaned out the formerly submerged garage.

With the entire neighborhood in some sort of demolition or construction stage, Mrs. Brendel was thankful听to receive an invitation to Adelphi’s Winter Wonderland. The event, held on Saturday, December 8,听offered entertainment and enrichment activities, such as a bounce house, face-painting, ballroom dancing,听poetry- and story-writing and arts and crafts, for children of families impacted by Sandy.

鈥淢elody and her friend had a great time, and it was refreshing to get her out of the neighborhood鈥� Mrs.听Brendel said of the event.

Ruth S. Ammon School of Education Professor and Department Chair Devin Thornburg听spearheaded the event, and called it a true cross-campus collaboration among schools and departments.听Freshmen in the designed the activities, which were staffed by 40听volunteers.

Mr. Thornburg said, 鈥淲e had 278 children and their family members from the Hempstead, Freeport and听Rockaways communities鈥� In my 25 years at the University, no event has been more successful, well-attended and meaningful to me personally.鈥�

The Winter Wonderland was one of a number of outreach and recovery programs that Adelphi has held in听response to Hurricane Sandy. Catch more photos from the Winter Wonderland photo booth.