Local pilot flies supplies to New York

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (WPRI) – Nearly a week after Sandy hit, millions of people in New York and New Jersey are still without power and thousands are homeless.

This weekend volunteers flooded the streets to help people affected by the Hurricane and a local pilot has given his time to fly down supplies to those in need.

Graeme Smith, a local business owner, has been flying for about 18 months and says the entire community came together to make his charity flights possible.

He says he got an email from a charity called Aerobridge that he volunteers for, asking him to help fly supplies into Long Island. In that email it said that 5,000 kids need warm clothes and food that doesn’t need to be cooked.

It took four pilots eight round trip flights to fly down the more than 2 thousand pounds of clothing and food that was donated by people in the community. Each trip takes about four hours.

Smith tells Eyewitness News he is planning on making one more charity flight to Long Island this week.