Hurricane Sandy hit the Red Hook neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn particularly hard and a local race organizer is stepping in to help in the rebuilding effort.
David Trimble, promoter of the Red Hook Criterium, has launched a fundraiser with race sponsor Castelli and local online boutique Gage+DeSoto to support two organizations working to rebuild Red Hook.
Until December 1, Gage+DeSoto is offering limited edition “Restore Red Hook” short sleeve and fleece-lined long sleeve jerseys, with all proceeds benefiting the Red Hook Initiative and Restore Red Hook.
“The Red Hook Initiative is a long standing community center that develops a lot of programs for lower income residents,” said Trimble. “Their main goal is to empower young kids, but still keep them in the neighborhood. They are basically running relief efforts in the neighborhood. FEMA is even based out of the community center.”
Restore Red Hook is leading the charge in rebuilding much of the downtown area and getting Red Hook-area businesses like Gage+DeSoto back up and running.
“We want to help out the downtown restaurants and coffee shops that we go to every day, that are no longer here,” said Trimble about his selection of Restore Red Hook as one of the two affiliate initiatives.
“Castelli, who also sponsors the Red Hook Crit, proposed the idea and we had about three days to throw it together,” he said. “The more money we raise for the neighborhood, the better. We had no expectations. We just put it out there to see what the response would be and it’s already beyond my expectations.”
As far as the race is concerned, Trimble says pulling the criterium together in 2013 will be a taller task after the storm.
“It’s going to be more challenging to organize this year,” he said. “The venue was and many of the local sponsors are hurting right now.
“I see the community rallying more behind the event to make it just as successful, which will be great to see.”
The “Restore Red Hook” jerseys cost $100 and will ship in January.
Read the full article at Red Hook promoter teams with Castelli to support Hurricane Sandy recovery on VeloNews.com.
