Bernardsville Woman Seeks Help With Sandy Lunches

Cathy Fersini-Campitiello, a Bernardsville resident and Staten Island native, still is seeking local volunteers to help her pack 20 bagged lunches to contribute toward those she has been delivering on a daily basis to residents in her home borough whose homes and lives were "devastated" by Sandy.

Fersini-Campitiello, whose husband works in Staten Island, has been delivering lunches along with moral support since the beginning of the week.

"The devastation is sickening," she said of the people she had visited. "It is a humbling sight. They were so appreciative of the food we brought today and are in need of so much more," she said on Tuesday.

Fersini-Campitiello had reached out to friends in the Somerset Hills before this week to ask for help preparing her bagged lunches that she said she would to give out starting Tuesday to people in those neighborhoods — including those she said are trying to clean up their homes, or who are displaced because their homes are gone.

One of those to answer the call with ham or turkey sandwiches, fruit, water and a snack.

Skea said she received an email from Fersini-Campitiello asking that people donate this week. The letter said that Fersini-Campitiello's husband already had been making donations in the area, and noted that some companies that were donating on Staten Island would be done after Thanksgiving.

Fersini-Campitiello said that anyone who wants to get involved can contact her at cathyfersini@me.com.

Fersini-Campitiello reported after the first day that most of the people she visited remain without power this week.

"It makes me cringe that I complained my phone, Internet and TV were out for 22 days," she said after her visit.

At this point, she said she will continue as long as needed, and would greatly appreciate any help provided by local residents.

While most people in this area are functioning after Sandy, even if still left with a mess to clean up, not so for many of those whose neighborhoods were ravaged on Staten Island, N.Y.