We are headed out to celebrate Christmas Eve tomorrow with our families and knowing that would be the case we saved our most dear cause until the last so that it would be the focus of the last two days of Sandy Christmas.  The organization we are supporting is Added Value.  This amazing organization operates two urban farms, one in Red Hook and one on Governor's Island, a farmer's market, is the primary supplier of fresh produce to many of Red Hook's residents and does all of this while staffing their work with local teens who learn agricultural, business and leadership skills amongst others.  Their value to that neighborhood and the impact they've no had on so many lives is beyond measure.  The farm was flooded with tons of polluted salt water from the bay and they have been cleaning up and replanting ever since.  You can learn more about their work and Sandy's impact on their web site.  You can also make a contribution to the organization directly through their web site which we will be doing.  We look forward to visiting a restored farm as it blooms in the spring and we hope you join us. 

This is the last entry in our 12 Days of Sandy Christmas series.  We hope that we've been able to help those in need a little and we hope that we've been able to help our readers find worthy destinations for their holiday generosity this year as well.  Certainly the work of recovery will go on well into 2013 so stay tuned to our blog for future updates.  Have a wonderful and safe holiday and new year!

It's the 10th Day of Sandy Christmas (and also my birthday!) and we are proud to support Cowgirl Seahorse.  A great local business in the Seaport that, like so many others, was inundated with flood waters when Sandy came to town.  With a delicious fusion of Tex-Mex, cajun and seafood this is a great place to eat and drink.  Not to mention their worship of all things Seahorse made the interior a little bit of a animated wonderland.  They need to funds to replace pretty much everything.  Floors, walls, kitchen equipment and so on.  They could also use your business as they have reopened with a limited menu so head on down and grab a drink.  You can also join us in contributing to the Go Fund Me Campaign. 

Seeing as the world didn't end today we are continuing our 12 days of Sandy Christmas.  For the 9th day we will be giving to Governor, a new restaurant in DUMBO that barely had a chance to work off the new restaurant smell before Sandy inundated it with tons of water.  The restaurant was a total loss.  Everything needs to be rebuilt and replaced to bring this fine dining establishment back to the DUMBO neighborhood.  You can give to them through their Go Fund Me Campaign.  We hope to see you there for dinner when they re-open. 

Steve Tarpin, a native of South Florida, loves Key Lime pies.  When he couldn't find a decent one in New York, he decided to take matters into his own hands and opened Steve's Key Lime Pies.  Originally he was making his pies out of a studio apartment kitchen but business grew along with the fame of his delicious pies and he eventually ended up in a much larger space in Pier 41 on the Red Hook Waterfront.  It's a beautiful location in an 1870s warehouse however that same location made them very vulnerable to Sandy's storm surge.  All their equipment and stock were lost in the storm and they missed out on Thanksgiving which is the biggest day of the year for a pie maker.  They are raising money to help cover the cost of replacing all that equipment and the losses incurred from lost business.  If you'd like to join us in supporting them you can contribute to their Go Fund Me Campaign.  Another delicious way to help them is to buy their pies.  If you haven't had one before you need to go right now and buy one.  Caution, they are addictive.  In fact, if you go to get one, please get us one as well.  It's been a day or two since we had one.