While still reeling from news that her brother is still missing after he and the home he had been living in in Kilauea were swept away during last week’s flash flooding, at the same time Sandy Binder said she and
While still reeling from news that her brother is still missing after he and the home he had been living in in Kilauea were swept away during last week’s flash flooding, at the same time Sandy Binder said she and other family members are very appreciative of the efforts of both the paid and volunteer searchers.
Following the story in both the online edition of The Garden Island and other sources, Binder said in an e-mail she is thankful for all the efforts still underway to try to find her brother.
“My brother, Wayne Rotstein, is among the missing from the dam break, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me and my family to know that there are so many hard-working professionals and volunteers involved in the search-and-rescue efforts,” she said.
“We have followed the story via the Internet, and know that their task is challenging. Our gratitude is immense, and our hearts are warmed by the generosity of the residents there in helping one another during this crisis,” she said.
Binder, from Pittsburgh, Pa., and her mother, Rita Rotstein, expressed interest in making a donation to those with the Urban Search and Rescue task force, and were referred by The Garden Island staff members to officials at the Hawai’i Community Foundation and the Kaua’i Island Fund.
“We would like everyone to know that, although we are separated by many miles, we are connected by the sadness and despair this situation has caused,” Binder wrote.
Binder has five brothers, and Wayne Rotstein is in the middle of them in birth order, she added.
The McNees and Burns family, through MaryAnn McNees, also offered a thank you: “We would like to thank the people of Kaua’i for all the love and support given our families in this time of grief. The care and concern and help that has been showered on our families has shown the heart and spirit of the people of Kaua’i to be beyond measure. So many of you have touched our lives. To name a few: Hawaiian Airlines, Kaua’i Visitors Bureau, Pahio Resorts, and Blue Hawaiian Helicopter, and all of the serach and rescue people who have been here and all of the incredible people who have loved our daughter Christina Mcnees.”
