All Hands Volunteers to Start Rebuild Program For Sandy Victims

All Hands Volunteers, a non-profit organization that provides hands-on assistance to needy communities around the world, announced that it will start a rebuild program for Hurricane Sandy victims at a South Merrick Community Civic Association meeting on Tuesday.  

Monique Pilie, associate project director of All Hands, said that the program will launch in Long Beach in the coming weeks.

The program will include the installation of subfloors and dry walls in homes.

The organization currently guts houses on Long Island with material damaged by flood waters and treats homes for mold at no cost. All Hands has worked on close to 100 homes in  Merrick, Freeport, Long Beach, Amityville and Lindenhurst.

"To test the homes for mold there are no qualifications," Pilie said. "We don't care about your finances or if you got help for FEMA, we are there to help you."

However, there will be financial qualifications for the rebuild program that will be announced when it starts.

Pilie said that the organization will be working on Long Island until the end of the year.

As a New Orleans native and survivor of Hurricane Katrina, she spoke of the importance of residents volunteering with the organization.

"The only way that New Orleans got back on its feet is because people came down and helped," she said. "I want to be able to pay it forward."

To make a donation or for more information on the rebuild program visit hands.org or call (516) 359-5336.