45°
The 22-hour, non-stop trek was actually Norvis’s second trip to his native state in two weeks, this one made possible with help from Hackensack PBA Local #9 and a former Hackensack ambulance squad member.
“It wasn’t bad,” Norvis (above, right) told CLIFFVIEW PILOT tonight while visiting his family in Boonton, where he grew up. “There wasn’t much traffic.”
Norvis had already driven up last weekend, bringing generators to his sister at the Jersey Shore, his folks in Boonton and others in need.
He later discovered that “the folks in Moonachie might have been a little overshadowed because of the damage to the Shore.”
Bringing that to his attention was Jeff Knapp, a former Hackensack emergency worker and now a Fort Lauderdale police officer.
Last Monday, Norvis issued a call out for donations. His FOP then rented the U-Haul, which he parked outside Fort Lauderdale police headquarters on Friday.
“People came and filled it up,” Norvis told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “We got food, clothing, generators, tools and plenty of other items. A lot of people brought brand-new clothes with tags still on them, kids’ car seats, diapers…. We had people from hours away come to help us.
“We’ve had storms down there, but no one’s ever seen anything like this up here,” he said. “So the people in Florida wanted to do something. At times like this, you have to help out your neighbor.”
Knapp connected Norvis with John Herrmann, president of Hackensack PBA Local #9. The union collected three tons of clothing and a ton and a half of food in Johnson Park on Friday during its own drive for Moonachie residents and others affected by the storm.
It didn’t take long to arrange a delivery from Fort Launderdale.
“They showed up in Moonachie around lunchtime today,” Hackensack Police Lt. Brian Corcoran told CLIFFVIEW PILOT (TOP photo, left).
Several local and Hackensack police officers and emergency workers were waiting to unload the items, he said.
But there’s more:
“I’m still getting calls from people wanting to give,” Norvis said tonight.
“My friend has an 18-wheeler,” he said. “We might fill it and send it up.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.
