Southeast residents Bill and Cristy Tierney know what it's like to loose everything in a matter of minutes.
Some years back, their home was the site of a destructive fire, which left them with practically nothing—not even shoes for their young children.
"That's why I drove down there," Cristy Tierney said as she described the trip she and Bill took to Breezy Point and Far Rockaway in Queens Saturday. She had goosebumps as she recalled the fire. "If it weren't for the donations from people I've never even met before, and the community in Brewster, I don't know what we would have done."
The generosity that followed came in the from of donated books, clothing and much more.
"It warms your hearts to know people who don't even know you care," she said.
The couple's weekend trip was a way of paying it forward, according to Tierney. She spent last week hanging dozens of posters around Brewster and Southeast, asking folks to contribute for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Residents dropped the items off at the Brewster Elks Lodge 2101 in Southeast.
"I wouldn't have been able to do this without them," she said of the Elks.
Check out the photos above to get a sense of what the Tierneys encountered Saturday.
