Babylon's Neighbors Truly Helping Their Neighbors

If it is one thing Hurricane Sandy proved to Babylon Village, it was that your neighbors would not let you down when you needed them the most.

In the wake of the storm, multiple support groups popped up through our area from those in nearby Lindenhurst like Camp Bulldog and Adopt A House to our own in Babylon Helps and the Babylon Rotary's Hurricane Relief Fund.

But one of the most well-known and continuously running groups since has been Neighbors Supporting Neighbors Babylon, formerly Neighbors Helping Neighbors.

"A few days after the storm, we dedicated we needed to do something," said Kim Skillen, co-founder of the volunteer group. She said driving up and down the streets of her village really made an impact on the scope of the disaster unfolding south of Main Street.

The group first popped up in the weeks following the storm, starting a clothing drive at First Presbyterian Church of Babylon only a few days after the storm. It wasn't called Neighbors Supporting Neighbors then, but it was the idea behind the group from the start.

"We reached out to them and asked them if we could open up – we said we can help them," Skillen said. Within 24 hours of putting a Facebook post up asking for donations, the church found itself filled to capacity with clothing and household goods. "48 hours later, we had five classrooms there filled plus the entire gym... our next big thing was sending trucks out with the supplies."

"It was surreal," she added.

Even after the waters finally receded from Babylon and surrounding communities, Neighbors Supporting Neighbors was there – ever changing, ever evolving to help families affected by the storm climb out of the mess.

"From November through the holidays, it was people just trying to get through it," she said, noting most affected families hope for insurance and FEMA checks within that timeframe to help get them through it. "We went mobile and starting cooking outside of the Fred Shores Beach Club. With people working on their houses, we'll bring the supplies to them and provided a hot meal."

A Christmas party followed for the children of affected homes with over 500 people attending in December.

The hot meals, supplies and support center, akin to Lindenhurst's Camp Bulldog, continued for a few months after the new year. 

"We really thought we were going to end after the last few barbecues," Skillen said. During one of the final barbecues though, Island Harvest dropped off food and supplies as they usually did – but everything was gone by the end of event. "We noticed a change – now people were grocery shopping for the week and were feeling lost. We realized we needed to ramp up what we were doing and do more."

Other events came from the group, including the well-publicized and heavily attended "Little Heroes" Day in April. The event happened to fall on one of the first really warm and sunny days Babylon had seen since before Sandy, much to the delight of both young and old.

With a more official role as a designated emergency support group, the group again has taken on new roles, all the while keep their foothold on their hometown.

"About 80 percent of our families here are back in their homes, however, that does not mean those homes are done," Skillen said at the group's Celebration of Strength event in Fred Shores on Saturday. "At this point, we've changed our focus to provide accurate information... but it's a different community now."