From the Distribution Station at the
Chinese Community Center in the New York City Chinatown:
a. Yesterday morning over 200
people waited in line for Tzu Chi's emergency relief distribution.
Some people told us that they had been waiting since six
in the morning.
b. It was unusually cold in New York City yesterday, so
we rushed to let the applicants enter the hall and take
their seats as we began to process their documents.
c. The volunteers regrettably had to decline the applications
from a group of tour bus drivers. The reason was that
although their work had been put on hold for two weeks
and their business had fallen significantly, most of them
owned their own buses, so they could return to work. As
situations were bleak for many other victims, the drivers
were still quite fortunate by comparison.
d. Most of the applicants were auto body workers. We discovered
several patterns:
- For the first two weeks after the tragedy, they were
not able to work.
- The amount of work and production output had greatly
diminished.
- The occurrence of the tragedy led to many people losing
their jobs.
- When it rains, it pours: many applicants' spouses worked
in restaurants, which also experience major downturns
in business.
- Many factories face forced closure.
