There are many writers and artists that I admire. Each one inspires me to be bigger and better One of my all-time favorite writers who I would love to be when I grow up (in a writer's sense of course) is Miss Erica "RivaFlowz" Buddington. Her writing knocks the wind out of your heart. It's that powerful. Every time she posts a link from rivaflowz.com on my Facebook wall, I know I'm in for a good read. 

Through her blog posts, Riva has helped me see what it really means to be a writer in their 20's, typing away at a keyboard to get to their dreams. Now she needs some help. Riva has the opportunity to go to Callaloo Writing Workshop AND get her book edited by a great editor. She is currently fundraising at Indiegogo. Whether it's by spreading the word or contributing to her fund, I am asking my readers (I know you guys are out there somewhere!) to help out. I'm already doing both because I believe in her dream as much as I believe in my own. If I can't take my opportunities yet, I want to help someone else take theirs. So without further ado, here are the links that will help her get closer to her dream:

Share on it Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, whatever you may have. If you have a blog, do a write up about it. Share this blog post if you want. Just SPREAD THE WORD pretty please, my Write Queeners. If you can contribute, even better. 

As she always does, Riva has opened up my eyes to something else: Indiegogo. I think I will be looking into starting my own fundraiser for my projects ;)

Have a great Sunday Write Queeners!


And Riva - I hope this helps!

During the aftermath of Sandy, there is a great deal of information being thrown around all over the place.

The Write Queen blog would like to make things easier for everyone and give you a guide/page of links of need to know information.

If anyone has anything to add, please leave a comment below. More importantly, share this post!

P.S. I am trying to keep most of the links posted in their mobile versions for those who only have their phone as a source of information. If you need a desktop version, go to the sites via your computer (by the way if you can go on a computer, you are doing better than a lot of people so please help in distributing information).

NYC and Government agencies:

NYC's site: http://www.nyc.gov

NYC Severe Weather site: http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/nycsevereweather/weather_home.shtml

NY State's site with information from the governor: http://www.governor.ny.gov/

The storm resources page: http://www.governor.ny.gov/storm-resources

General information on hurricanes: http://www.ready.gov/hurricanes?qt-view__field_tabs_view__default__166=2

FEMA and Hurricane Sandy:
http://m.fema.gov/
http://www.fema.gov/sandy

Google Crisis Map: http://www.google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy-nyc

Transportation:

MTA's general site: http://www.mta.info

Current map of working transportation: http://project.wnyc.org/mtatiles/embed.html

Transit Tracker to let you know of rules during this time:
http://project.wnyc.org/transit-tracker/embed.html

Supply distribution:

Food and Water: http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/2012/foodandwater.html

Dry Ice: https://attachments.sendwordnow.com/Attachments.aspx?token=517c7db5-94f8-48e0-9ecf-339b54f13711

Shelters:

NYC Hurricane Shelters: http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/2012/hurricane_shelters.html

Red Cross Shelters:
http://www.redcross.org/find-help/shelter

Donations:

Mayor's Fund: http://www.nyc.gov/html/fund/html/home/home.shtml

Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/hurricane-sandy?scode=RSG00000E017&subcode=paiddonationsbrand&gclid=CPucsNzmsLMCFdKd4Aod4lYAKA

Local information:

Request For Donations (Thank you Jamise Jones for this info!)

Please note - donations will be accepted from 10:00am thru 6:00pm daily (until further notice).

These supplies, while collected in Queens, will be distributed to ALL affected areas citywide.

At this time please do not bring donations to your local police facility, while much appreciated we need to ensure an efficient rapid distribution. Right now this central location is the most effective method as we continually adjust to the shifting conditions.

Resort World Casino (Former Aqueduct Racetrack)

110-00 Rockaway Blvd ; Jamaica, NY 11420

Next to JFK airport - Enter from 109th Street & Rockaway Blvd

Uniformed NYPD Community Affairs officers in marked vehicles will be present in the parking lot to accept these much needed donations.
--------------------------------------------------------
We are seeking donations of the following items (or similar):

Food - Canned goods; Non-perishable food items; Individual snacks (chips, cookies, fruit snacks, granola bars, pudding); Canned Milk; Bottled Water

Shopping List - Paper products (facial tissue, toilet paper, paper towels); Baby care products (diapers, formula, wipes) Trash bags; Aluminum foil, plastic wrap and sandwich bags; Cleaning products (bleach, sponges, dishwashing liquid); Bath and bedroom items (towels, sheets and pillow cases); Personal care products (deodorant, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, conditioner; feminine hygiene products); FLASH LIGHTS and BATTERIES; BACKPACKS.

Clothing - All types of clothing for all ages and genders, particularly clothing for the approaching colder weather.

Any questions can be directed to the Community Affairs Bureau at 646-610-5323 or via email at communityaffairs@nypd.org

*Store owners, or other large businesses interested in bulk donations should contact the above number to coordinate logistics.

Gas:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/01/get-and-share-information-on-where-to-get-gas-in-the-tri-state/

Electricity:

Con Ed's Storm Central: http://apps.coned.com/stormcenter_external/m.htm

National Grid:
https://www1.nationalgridus.com/PowerOutageMap-NY-RES

LIPA: http://mobile.lipower.org/mt/www.lipower.org

Central Hudson:
http://stormcentral.cenhud.com/mobile.html

Additional information on outages at: http://www.governor.ny.gov/

Volunteer:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycservice/home.html

Report Storm Damage:

Homes:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/nycsevereweather/damage_form.shtml

Trees: http://gis.nyc.gov/parks/forms/

To have the NYC marathon is an insult to all of those in distress after Sandy.

I see Facebook pages popping up and unless you take the time to read them sir, I know that you are still going to go through with this. Hell even if you saw all of the comments, you would still do it.

That's not what a mayor does.

Your people are suffering. I am fortunate enough to be okay, but I know people who are not.

Resuming school on Monday? Great! So what are you going to do for the kids whose schools were damaged in the Rockaways? What is the plan for schools in lower Manhattan if you cannot restore power by then? Are kids going to be penalized for not coming to school next week because they don't know when they are going back to their homes? I would like to know that.

And Staten Island...what are you going to do for them? People are needed everywhere yes, but do you have a plan to get people to Staten Island to help. We can't exactly walk there.

Saying, "We are doing the best we can." is not easing anyone's mind, especially when the next minute, you are saying that the marathon will go on!

If I had the chance to talk to you, I would ask every question in this entry and more. If you cannot come up with a good answer for these questions, then guess what...you shouldn't be having this marathon!

Please use the common sense that the good Lord gave you (but is obviously hidden in the shadows of preparing for a marathon that should be postponed!).