Westfield Realtor Organizes Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort Through Facebook

The following is a press release: 

Jodi Luminiello, sales associate with the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Westfield West office and founder of the Facebook community group “365 Things to do in Westfield (www.facebook.com/365ThingsWestfield),” organized a task force from the group’s more than 5,700 followers to assist with relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. 

Luminiello, who was born and raised in New Jersey, said that after witnessing past natural disasters such as Hurricane Irene, she knew she needed to take action. After Hurricane Sandy, she began helping clients and friends clean up their homes. While helping in affected areas, especially Union Beach, she realized that the community was in need of more volunteers.

That is when Luminiello reached out to her social media group to recruit volunteers from the Westfield area. Soon after, Luminiello and a group of 14 other area residents anxious to help drove to Union Beach to assist in any way they could. Luminiello conferred with other volunteers and representatives from the Red Cross, Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine where her group’s help was most needed. Armed each morning with a list of tasks from officials at Union Beach Town Hall, the volunteer group from Westfield sorted piles of clothing and bedding donations, unloaded delivery trucks, and helped storm victims sort through whatever items they could salvage from their homes.

Luminiello and the other volunteers walked door-to-door, providing more assistance to residents who were searching through debris in their homes. As Luminiello recalls, they found a family gutting the first floor of their home because the water level had risen to shoulder height. The contents of the first floor of the home were piled high on the front lawn.

“This was unfortunately a common sight as we delivered hot lunches and clean-up kits provided by the Red Cross to those working day and night to clean up their homes,” said Luminiello.

For more information, contact Jodi Luminiello with the Westfield West office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage at (908) 233-0065 or on her cell phone at (732) 713-0051. The office is located at 600 North Avenue West and can be visited online at ColdwellBankerMoves.com/WestfieldWest.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New Jersey and Rockland County, New York, a leading residential real estate brokerage company, operates 58 offices with more than 3,000 sales associates serving all communities from Rockland County, N.Y. to Monmouth County, New Jersey. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New Jersey and Rockland County, N.Y. is part of NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company.  Visitwww.coldwellbankermoves.com for more information.